Hasbro Company Who Own Dungeons and Dragons Lose $1 Billion, Plan to Cut $750 Million in Costs in 2024

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Eleonora Bader
Feb 17, 2024 11:30 AM EST

Take a deep breath, fellow DnD lovers. This isn't looking good.

Hasbro's fourth-quarter financial report shook investors to their core as shares plummeted substantially, prompted by lackluster revenue figures and a daunting outlook for 2024. To tackle these hurdles, the company aims to cut costs by a whopping $750 million dollars. So what awaits us, this 2024? Well, the outlook suggests more drops in revenue (sighs), projecting a 15% decrease to $1.29 billion for the entire year. While there was an uptick in revenue for the Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming division, it unfortunately fell short of compensating for the overall decline.

Of course, someone had to go make a post about this on Reddit, asking fellow DnD players what they thought of the whole situation. Voices chimed in from all over, and you can check out what they wrote below in a series of screenshots. Next, check out these Dungeons and Dragons memes… You know you want to.

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  • 01
    Hasbro, who own D&D, lost $1 BILLION in the last 3 months of 2023! Plan to cut $750M in costs in 2024.
    via Canva
  • 02
    Hasbro, who own D&D, lost $1 BILLION in the last 3 months of 2023! Plan to cut $750M in costs in 2024.
    via u/thenightgaunt
  • 03
    So here's the article from CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/13/hasbro-has- earnings-q4-2023.html And here's Roll for Combat talking about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqZPPEJNOWE Normally I wouldn't really care but holy c p the company that owns D&D just lost 14% of it's value. That's not great for folks who like D&D or who like WotC.
    via u/thenightgaunt
  • 04
    Put it a different way. They were worth $14 billion in 2021. They're worth $7 billion no in 2024. https://companiesmarketcap.com/hasbro/marketca p/ The game's weathered bad company fortunes in the past. Like when TSR was about to have to sell off individual settings and IP that it had put up for collateral for loans before WotC swooped in to buy it and save the day. And it's doubtful Habsbro's done the same with D&D's bits.
    via u/thenightgaunt
  • 05
    But hasbro's in a nose dive and I can't see how they'll turn it around. They fired 15-20% of their workforce in 2023 (the big one being 1100 people fired before xmass) and they appearantly reported that they're going to cut $750 million more in "costs" throughout 2024. There's no way cuts that deep aren't going to hit WotC and D&D. Thoughts?
    via u/thenightgaunt
  • 06
    SgtWaffleSound - 8 hr. ago Lol. As far as I'm concerned, D&D is open source. Reply Share 1.9k Spykron - 8 hr. ago Agreed. 5th edition is great and they gave us plenty to work with. If you truly want more you can make it yourself or buy from others who made it themselves. 575 Reply Share
    via u/SgtWaffleSound, u/Spykron
  • 07
    Robby-Pants 7 hr. ago Same. I was a late adopter of 5e (played 3e for 20 years) and I'm happy to mostly work with it as-is, with some house rules. After the OGL debacle, I kind of feel I have all the WotC books I need. I have mixed feelings on all the UA playtest stuff dropping, and I can crib what I want. 213 Reply Share
    via u/Robby-Pants
  • 08
    n preiman790 8 hr. ago DM . I mean this isn't really surprising, the toy industry has been in a weird place for a long time, and pretty much ever since the pai .nic it's been in something that looks like free- fall. Hasbro, and other companies don't know what people will buy anymore like they know people will buy electronic toys, But they don't know if that change is permanent or if more traditional toys will bounce back, D&D and Magic the Gathering and mostly Magic are amongst the only things t
    via u/preiman790
  • 09
    money and it's been like that for a little while. Hell, their biggest competitor, Mattel is only doing better because Barbie is so go mn huge right now, and that's a big trend reversal from where things were a year or so ago 343 Reply Share thenightgaunt OP. 8 hr. ago DM It's not surprising but this is a HELL of a nosedive. And I mean this isn't a sustainable one from everything I learned in business school. Especially when they project 3-5% further revenue loss in 2024 (meaning they don't
    via u/preiman790, u/thenightgaunt
  • 10
    expect D&D 5e 2024 to shift the needle much) and plan to cut $750 million more in costs. Which usually means k. ‹ng product lines, firing people, selling factories and other physical assets the company holds. Glicker goes through the full earnings report in the Roll for Combat video. The only thing making them money is MTG, Monopoly GO, and the licensing profits from Baldur's Gate 3. They even say outright "Growth in MAGIC: THE GATHERING tabletop revenues offset by declines in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
    via u/thenightgaunt
  • 11
    marimbaguy7156 hr. ago edited 4 hr. ago DM I think you're reading that wrong. Decline in revenue =/= losing money. What they're reporting: • Wizards Tabletop (Magic and D&D) -1.3% Q4 2023 Revenue Bridge "Growing in MTG tabletop revenues offset by declines in Dungeons & Dragons ahead of 5th edition release"
    via u/marimbaguy7156
  • 12
    That does not mean that WotC tabletop lost money on the whole, it means they generated less revenue in Q4 2023 than they did in Q4 2022. It does not mean that D&D isn't making them money, just that it's making them less money than it was last year. Also that $750 million in cut costs is by the end of 2025. 45 Reply Share
    via u/marimbaguy7156
  • 13
    SeraphymCrashing - 4 hr. ago Yes, but it's not about making money. It's about increasing the stock value so the shareholders are happy. It's the core sickness that infects everything now. You can't have a stable successful company, you have to keep pumping that stock value until it finally bursts like a cheap balloon and another cherished institution is destroyed.
    via u/SeraphymCrashing
  • 14
    We really need to restructure the way stocks work. Frankly, employees should always be earning stocks automatically. Employees are the kind of shareholders who actually want a stable and successful company long term. Employees labor is building these companies, they should get a portion of the companies. Reply Share 20
    via u/SeraphymCrashing
  • 15
    Chungusthevast · 7 hr. ago I've been following hasbrow's market value for a while, and this isn't surprising. By all accounts it doesn't actually have anything to do with WotC and DnD. In fact that sector is doing great, dnd and MtG are selling better than ever before. What's causing this nosedive is poorly performing toy sales. Kids appear to be more interested in digital products and less plastic toys each year. This may have a good result for the hobby actually, is Hasbro tanks any further it
    via u/Chungusthevast
  • 16
    SisyphusRocks7 · 4 hr. ago Also, a few years ago Hasbro stupidly bought an entertainment studio (Entertainment 1) to make movies and videos for their IP. But that's not what the studio they bought had ever done. The acquisition didn't really work, because the Hasbro execs didn't understand that studios aren't factories that make toys, they are a nexus of creative talent and financing. So they sold the studio for a big loss. That purchase was a colossal failure and most of this year's losses are
    via u/SisyphusRocks7
  • 17
    mike_pants 8 hr. ago It may very well be a godsend for those who like DnD. They might have to start selling assets to raise revenue, and maybe this time, DnD will land with a company that's actually competent about curating it as a viable property. 348 Reply Share nixahmose 8 hr. ago Yeah that's never going to happen. DnD and Magic are just about the only things making Hasbro money these days.
    via u/mike_pants, u/nixahmose
  • 18
    zapdoszaperson - 6 hr. ago As of closing today, Hasbro stock has recouped almost all of its losses from the Q4 earnings call. This entire situation is being over blown by people not familiar with the industry and finance. The issue here isn't DnD or WotC, they're just failing to drag all the ded weight that is the rest of the company. It's all trash, even once premium like monopoly is just sad product release after sad product release. A 36 Reply Share
    via u/zapdoszaperson
  • 19
    Nautilus0277 hr. ago worst part is that the higher ups that have been making poor decision after poor decision will not be too affected by this ill be waiting for the 90% discount dnd products in a few months again 126 Reply Share
    via u/Nautilus0277
  • 20
    preiman790 7 hr. ago DM That's sadly always the way, the people who make the decisions that get these companies in trouble, are largely insulated from the fallout of their decisions. Like even if they do ultimately get fired for something really terrible or really stupid, it's the kind of fired where the company pays you millions upon millions of dollars and keep letting you use the corporate jet for a decade. Fk them in their golden parachutes 40 Reply Share
    via u/preiman790
  • 21
    Sunshine_LOLpops - 8 hr. ago Wow. I think childhood has fundamentally shifted. Kids don't play, they consume media. And it seems they can only lean into D&D and Magic so much before the market is saturated and fans get annoyed from being bombarded with new content and micro transactions. Time for a new perspective and leadership. 90 ▼ Reply Share
    via u/Sunshine_LOLpops
  • 22
    Forg1vn 8 hr. ago I've only been playing DnD for a year, but I'm the type of geek to dive too deep into my hobbies. Yay. One of the things I've noticed about DnD is the terrible merchandise that they release. Even with the movie (which I absolutely adored and would love to have purchased merchandise for) - the only thing I've seen in stores were horrible looking dragon-crossbow children's toys with Honor Among Thieves plastered on top. First of all, wtf does that have to do with the movie? Secon
    via u/Forg1vn
  • 23
    their target demographic fricken children, who don't actually play DnD. I've also seen really terrible looking metal figures that were sold at 5 Below. Horrible quality for 2023 (when I saw them). Horrible quality for 1990s when I used to buy that type of toy quite honestly. I mean the little gray minis that we can buy to paint and play with are cool, but honestly 3D printing made it pretty irrelevant. It's not like Warhammer where you need to have official GW plastic to play in tournaments.
    via u/Forg1vn
  • 24
    Why not make some type of pre-painted collectible minis? Limited runs on some, special promotions for others, etc. If they released tiny collectible minis of every single character from the movie, you better believe they would have gotten a ton of extra revenue. Why not lean into actual useable (and good quality) terrain boards, battle maps, etc? I honestly don't get it. A Reply Share 59▼
    via u/Forg1vn

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cut costs digital games fantasy gaming news tabletop games revenue gaming dnd players dnd memes dungeons and dragons memes Hasbro payment money dungeons and dragons
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