RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Former Warcraft general manager John Hight, who left Blizzard in 2024 and became president of Wizards of the Coast—a position that gave him oversight of "all publishing and development efforts for Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and Hasbro Digital Gaming"—is leaving the company after just two years.
Hight's departure was revealed by a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing (via GamesIndustry ) saying that he and Hasbro reached a "Transitional Advisory Services Agreement" on July 27. Under the terms of that agreement, he'll remain in his current position until September 1, after which he'll spend another year as an advisor to the CEO—unless he's terminated first.
Hight had nearly 13 years at Blizzard when he left in June 2024; he took over as president of Wizards of the Coast just two months later. It's not really relevant to the matter at hand, but Hight will continue to earn his $800,000 salary while in the advisory role, although the unspecified annual cash bonuses he was bringing in on top of that, which were presumably attached to some corporate performance metric or another, will no longer be applicable.
Hight's looming departure comes in the shadow of videogame turmoil at Hasbro, which just a week ago recorded a $56 million impairment arising from the cancellation of several videogame projects that had been slated to release "in 2028 and beyond." Specifics weren't revealed at the time but one known cancellation is the D&D game that was being developed by Stig Asmussen's Giant Skull studio ; a big-budget GI Joe game announced in 2021 also appears to be in trouble, although Hasbro said earlier this year that it has not been cancelled .
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said at the time that 2026 should be the company's "peak year for digital investment," and that it's aiming to reduce its "digital spend" by at least 25% by 2028. To my reading, that points to a pullback from conventional videogame development, which—entirely speculatively—may have impacted Hight's position: His job description on the Hasbro management page says that along with overseeing tabletop and digital development of Magic: The Gathering and D&D, "he also oversees the development of original and licensed videogames based on Hasbro’s broader brand portfolio."
In a statement provided to GamesIndustry, Wizards of the Coast said it is "deeply grateful for [Hight's] leadership and the contributions he's made to our teams and our games during his tenure. John will continue to support Wizards in an advisory capacity while pursuing other creative and professional opportunities he's passionate about.
"There is no change to the strength of the Wizards business. Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons continue to perform incredibly well, consistent with our most recent earnings release, and our upcoming 2027 videogame slate, including Exodus and Warlock remains on track."
Wizards is now "launching an internal and external search for John's successor."
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