On today’s second quarter earnings call, Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner revealed that Wizards of the Coast’s Q2 2021 revenue “more than doubled” when compared to Q2 2020.
Wizards’ revenue in the quarter rose to $406 million, up 118% from $187 million in the same period last year. Its operating profit also grew at an incredible rate to $193 million from $74 million.
Source: Hasbro’s Q2 earnings report.
This growth was primarily driven by Magic: the Gathering’s two major release in the quarter, Strixhaven: School of Mages and Modern Horizons 2. Goldner revealed that both sets were “record” releases but did not elaborate. Demand for Magic is “at an all-time high,” he continued, though he also acknowledged that production delays continue due to high demand for materials.
Goldner also announced that MTG Arena is “up quite considerably” year-over-year and is a profitable product. Those numbers were undoubtedly assisted by the the launch of Arena on mobile earlier this year, which Goldner said “exceeded all expectations.” The game’s metrics are “very competitive” with other mobile games, he continued, and Hasbro is seeing strong hybrid engagement from players playing both digital and tabletop Magic.
Goldner declined to disaggregate the numbers for Magic’s digital and tabletop performance when asked by an institutional investor on the earnings call.
However, he did say that “digital is going to be a growing part of [Wizards’] business” in the future. Hasbro expects Magic’s tabletop business to continue to grow alongside digital but that digital will make up a bigger percentage of the revenue going forward.