Hasbro Earnings Fall Double Digits, But Magic: The Gathering Sees More Growth

Last updated on October 25, 2024

Gray Merchant of Asphodel | Illustration by Scott Murphy

Hasbro (HAS) released their financial results for Q3 of 2024 and reported a 15% decline in revenue overall, but Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast enjoyed 3% and 7%, respectively.

While Magic: The Gathering's growth can clearly be attributed to success in Modern Horizons 3 and Bloomburrow, Wizards of the Coast's overall decline was mostly related to “lower digital licensing revenue,” which means the sales of Baldur's Gate 3 is likely slowing down.

However, year-to-date, Wizards of the Coast has still grown upwards of 7%, and Magic is continuing to be Hasbro's most consistent and successful IP and is well on its way to crossing that billion-dollar threshold by the end of the year.

What Led to Magic: The Gathering's Success This Year?

Wild Growth | Illustration by Tony Szczudlo

Q3 2023 was a hard time frame to beat. It saw the release of multiple popular Magic sets like Wilds of Eldraine and, most notably, Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth, Magic's most successful set ever.

However, thanks to popular Standard sets like Bloomburrow paired with the next-most successful set ever, Modern Horizons 3, Magic was able to close that gap and show growth for itself and Wizards of the Coast.

On top of those major sets, this year, we had a significant amount of crossover brand deals for Universes Beyond. Assassin's Creed and Hatsune Miku from Secret Lair were the major hitters in Q3, with the former releasing alongside an entirely brand new pack type.

These are premium products that sell out almost instantly through Secret Lair, and their incredibly high demand paired with their higher price point likely helped Magic: The Gathering cross over the massive record set by Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth.

Looking Ahead to Q4

The last few months of 2024 will be pretty small for Magic compared to Q3. On the docket for upcoming releases, we're looking at Foundations, a 5-year core set being revealed at MagicCon: Las Vegas. There will be the inevitable release of some Secret Lairs, but currently, that's all there is.

We haven't been made aware of anything coming in Q4 outside of Foundations, which pre-releases on November 8-10. While it's likely that Wizards won't go a full month and a half or more without a set release, there has not been a reveal of any upcoming set to follow up Foundations.

However, that's likely to change over the course of MagicCon: Las Vegas. There will be numerous panels on set design and plenty of spoilers for Foundations, so it's likely we'll see some kind of roadmap similar to the one for 2024 revealed, and it's possible that it will include any surprise releases for Q4.

Hasbro Goes All-in on Digital Products

One of the most notable reveals from the financial earnings presentation was CEO Chris Cock's desire to steer Hasbro into becoming a company with a heavy focus on “digital play.”

“Our goal is to be shipping one to two new games per year starting as early as late 2025, potentially early 2026,” Cocks said.

This change comes after the success of Baldur's Gate 3 and MTG Arena's continued growth since release. We can even see this in individual Magic sets, where releases like Modern Horizons 3, a set designed for a format that doesn't exist on Arena, were sold on MTG Arena for other formats and limited play.

Overall, digital products Hasbro's only other profitable segment. Consumer Products are down 20%, and Entertainment is down 90% year-over-year, making this pivot crucial.

Wrap Up

Tidy Conclusion | Illustration by Bastien L. Deharme

Overall, Magic: The Gathering has found success and seen revenue growth yet again in spite of Hasbro's continued decline. Looking towards the end of year, it'll be a much closer race when it comes to whether or not we'll see another quarter of growth, especially with the upcoming Foundations release likely drawing lower excitement due to being effectively a core set.

Still, the year is not over, there will absolutely be additional secret lairs and mini-crossovers to help pad the numbers, and an additional standard expansion release or Commander product could be announced over the weekend in Las Vegas.