Wizards of the Coast, creator of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, earned over $1 billion / £736.5 million in revenue in 2021. In a financial report released on Feburary 7, WotC’s parent company Hasbro announced that the tabletop gaming publisher doubled its revenues two years ahead of its five-year target.
Magic is cited as one of Hasbro’s top-performing brands at the moment, with Hasbro interim CEO Rich Stoddart referring to 2021 as “Magic’s best year ever” in a transcript of Hasbro’s quarterly financial presentation. The published report attributes some of this success to “several record set releases” from WotC. Modern Horizons 2 and the D&D Crossover Adventures in the Forgotten Realms were just two of last year’s Magic sets that generated huge sales for Wizards.
Stoddart also says in the report that “the Hasbro team finished the year strong and delivered an exceptional full-year 2021, including another record revenue year for Wizards of the Coast.” Overall, WotC and Hasbro’s Digital Gaming segment saw a 42% increase in revenue from last year. This contributes to Hasbro’s total gaming portfolio, which earned an enormous $2.1 billion / £1.5 billion in revenue last year.
This is the fourth year in a row that Magic has grown in revenue, and most of this was driven by tabletop rather than digital sales. Dungeons and Dragons also grew its revenue for the ninth consecutive year. All this growth means that WotC helped Hasbro generate an operating profit of $763.3 million / £562 million. According to the report, “Hasbro’s face-to-face, tabletop and digital gaming portfolio posted strong growth and ranks among the biggest and fastest growing portfolios in the industry.”
In less number-crunching news, Hasbro hints at some of its 2022 plans in the financial report. The report announced that the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons film is currently in post-production, and a Magic: the Gathering Netflix series will release in the second half of 2022. On-screen tie-ins aside, Hasbro asserts that 2022 will see the company “continue to invest in developing future digital gaming and development of new Wizards IP”.
Wondering what’s next for MtG after all this success? Check out our six hot takes on Magic: The Gathering in 2022. Or, if you’re looking for new releases, the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks have just been revealed.