American video game publisher, Wizards of the Coast, which specializes in the fantasy and science fiction genre was impacted by new layoff rounds announced by its parent company Hasbro. Wizards of the Coast was acquired by Hasbro in 1999, eventually leading to its transition from a game retail store operator to “building role playing, trading card, and digital games for all genre of players”.
Hasbro announced that it will reduce its headcount by 1,100. The latest layoff round is coming after the company let go of about 800 employees across the firm at the beginning of the year. In an email to employees, the company CEO Chris said layoff was the last step to keep the company healthy.
“A year ago, we laid out our strategy to focus on building fewer, bigger, better brands and began the process of transforming Hasbro,” read the statement. “Since then we’ve had some important wins, like retooling our supply chain, improving our inventory position, lowering costs, and reinvesting over $200 million back into the business while growing share across many of our categories.”
“But the market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned. While we’re confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make.”
While it was reported that Wizards of the Coast would be affected, it was not immediately clear the number of employees in the gaming division that would be let go. Nevertheless, some people who used to work at Wizards of the Coast took to social media (particularly X) to announce that they had been laid off.
The layoff was blamed on weaker toy sales which has continued into the holiday season. By the end of 2022, Hasbro had a global staff strength of 6,490 people, according to a regulatory filing. The job cuts announced on Monday, December 11, take the total layoff in the company to 1,900 or 29% of its 2022 workforce.
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Hasbro said it would shut the doors of its Providence, Rhode Island office since it was not being maximized to its full capacity. Consequently, the office will be closed once its lease term expires in January 2025.
List of Wizards of the Coast employees affected by layoff is gradually being collated
Since Hasbro announced its current layoff numbers, industry professionals have continued to search for clarity, particularly on the number of employees affected in Wizards of the Coast. The layoff was reportedly conducted in a staggered manner.
“Unfortunately, I will no longer be working for WotC as I was one of the many that were hit by the Hasbro layoffs,” wrote Paul Cheon, former talent manager, producer, and pro tour caster at Wizards of the Coast. “It was an absolute dream to work on the game that I’ve loved playing for over 20 years. Future is unclear but I may fire up a stream after the New Year!”
Wizards of the Coast is particularly famous for publishing Magic The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. These games found new audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic as people searched for new activities to keep them engaged.
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“Yesterday was surprisingly my last day of work at Wizards as D&D TRPG Studio’s Art Manager,” wrote Rob Sather. “My position was eliminated, nothing to do with performance. Can’t even utter a snarky quip or light-hearted anecdote, just feeling gutted.”
It’s unclear how the layoffs at Wizards of the Coast will affect the Dungeons & Dragons planned for 2024. As of December 13, Forbes compiled a list of former employees at Wizards of the Coast who have publicly announced they were no longer working for the company. We counted 19 people from the list, but the casualties will likely be way higher.
Folks laid off at Wizards of the Coast include:
Dan Dillon, game designer
Mike Mearls,
Chris Lindsay, who helped architect the DMs Guild,
Liz Schuh, head of licensing and publishing for D&D
Bree Heiss, art director for D&D
Natalie Egan, product manager
(continued below)— Christian Hoffer (@CHofferCBus) December 13, 2023
As with every layoff, not everyone impacted is willing to speak up about it. Therefore, others may be impacted by the layoff who may not be on the list. Also, since the layoff was reportedly staggered, more names may emerge in the future.
Just like it is unclear the exact number of people that were affected, there was no mention of severance package—and whether the laid-off employees got any at all.
