Hasbro reported a $1.06 billion loss for Q4, despite a positive contribution from its Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment. Both of Hasbro’s other segments, Consumer Products and Entertainment, showed big losses. Entertainment showed a $1.11 billion loss as Hasbro completed its sale of eOne assets, taking a loss, and wrote down the entertainment it kept. Consumer products, including toys and non-Hasbro games, lost $126 million. Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming showed a $103 million profit for the quarter, down about $1 million from Q4 2022.
Company-wide sales took a big hit, down 23% to $1.29 billion from $1.68 billion in Q4 2022. Entertainment was down 49%, and Consumer Products was down 25%. Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming was up 7%, driven by digital games (Baldur’s Gate 3 and Monopoly Go!); tabletop gaming sales in the segment were near flat (down around $1 million to $266 million).
A 1% growth rate for WOTC tabletop games and a 3-5% growth rate for Magic: The Gathering tabletop sales leads to the inescapable conclusion that Dungeons & Dragons tabletop sales were down substantially on a percentage basis in 2023 (as Magic sales dwarf D&D’s, the percentage move was much bigger). The OGL dumpster fire at the beginning of 2023, the lackluster performance of the Dungeons & Dragons movie, and the announcement of upcoming updates to the core books likely all played a role.
Still, WOTC generated $1.07 billion in tabletop game sales in 2023.
The bright spot for both WOTC and Hasbro was Baldur’s Gate 3, The company said it’s earned about $90 million dollars through its licensing deal with Larian for Baldur’s Gate 3.
“Baldur’s Gate had another healthy quarter, think for the year in totality, Baldur’s Gate was around $90 million of revenue.” Hasbro chief financial officer Gina Goetter
Hasbro expects its board game sales to grow in 2024, but overall consumer products sales are expected to decline 7-12%.
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