The company’s geek brands were areas of strength within those numbers. Sales by the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment fell 16% to $304 million in Q3 from $360 million in the year ago quarter. Tabletop revenues in the segment were down 9%, from $269 million in Q3 2021 to $246 million in Q3 2022, due to changes in the Magic: The Gathering release schedule vs. 2021, the company said.
The biggest game sales drops were in the digital gaming numbers from Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming, down 37% due to tough comps vs. the Dark Alliance release in 2022 and the tail end of launch sales on Magic: The Gathering Arena Mobile.
Sales in the Hasbro Gaming brand group, which includes games other than Magic: The Gathering and Monopoly, were down 25%.
The trend for the year on Wizards of the Coast’s tabletop games is still up 5% through the first nine months, and the company is forecasting double digit growth, led by tabletop, in Magic: The Gathering sales for the year.
Asked about "wallet fatigue" by Magic customers in the conference call, WotC and Digital Gaming President Cynthia Williams noted that the company is shipping the same number of sets in 2022 as in 2021, but that dates had been shifted due to supply chain issues. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks revealed that game sales by all companies (presumably from NPD or other consumer tracking numbers) were down 8% year to date, putting Magic sales comfortably ahead of the norm.
Profits in the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment were down 36% to $102 million for the quarter due to the sales decline, higher paper and freight costs, and royalty payments on licensed Universes Beyond products, the company said.
Hasbro’s overall sales were down 15% to $1.68 billion for the quarter from $1.97 billion in Q3 2021. Earnings were down 49%, from $253 million in the year ago period to $129 million this year.