Wizards of the Coast CEO
There is a new job opening at Wizards of the Coast: Chief Executive Offer. Cynthia Williams, the now-former CEO of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Games, stepped down suddenly last month, leaving a massive void in the organization's management. Many forget the digital gaming part, and we’ll get into that in a bit. Today, we’ll take a look at Ms. Williams’ background, her tenure at Wizards, and what the future holds for the most profitable arm of Hasbro.
Cynthia Williams
Ms. Williams has a solid pedigree. She earned an undergraduate degree from Western Carolina, an Economics degree from the University of Oxford in 1994, and a Master of Business Administration in Strategy and Finance from Wake Forest University in 1995. She started her career at Williams as an associate finance director at the Altria Group. You might know them by a different name before they rebranded themselves—Phillip Morris.
After spending 12+ years there, Ms. Williams moved on to Amazon. She worked there for over a decade, culminating her career at Amazon as the General Manager and VP of FBA Business and Operations. Ms. Williams spearheaded the company's global growth of its e-commerce direct-to-consumer business and fulfillment by Amazon. She even holds the process patent, streamlining how Amazon got your packages to you, focusing on third-party vendors.
Moving on to Microsoft, Ms. Williams served as General Manager and Vice President of the Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team. Under her guidance, she led the expansion of Xbox Gaming and game creator growth. This made her a logical fit to lead Wizards of the Coast, as the company was focused on moving into the digital arena.
Ms. Williams also serves on the Board of Directors of Aterian. Aterian builds, acquires, and partners with best-in-class e-commerce brands through proprietary software and an agile supply chain to create top-selling consumer products (from Aterian Website, https://www.aterian.io). Ms. Williams also serves as an advisor at Mana Up, a venture fund and accelerator for small businesses in Hawaii.
Ms. Williams serves as the CEO at Wizards of the Coast for two years, suddenly resigning from that position. As of last Monday, May 20, 2024, Ms. Williams became the Chief Executive Officer of Funko. Funko is a leading pop culture lifestyle brand, providing a connection to pop culture with a product line that includes vinyl figures, action toys, plush, apparel, posters, housewares, NFTs, and accessories. As the world's largest proprietor of licenses, entertainment enthusiasts display their fandom through the lens of Funko products. (from the Funko Website, https://investor.funko).
The Highs and Lows
Ms. Williams's time at WotC was a roller coaster. Some of the biggest scandals in the company’s history rocked Dungeons and Dragons. Magic the Gathering card collectors saw prices drop, infuriating them. Disgruntled fans seemed to permeate every aspect of WotC’s portfolio. But it wasn't all bad. During her tenure, there were some incredible positives, making WotC the most profitable piece of Hasbro's portfolio. It was wider than just D&D, as growth and revenue in Magic way outpaced the Dungeons and Dragons brand. Licensing deals saw digital gaming revenue explode. Below are the highlights, both good and bad.
The Good
D&D Beyond - The acquisition of D&D Beyond ushered Wizards into the digital age. People went all chicken little, saying this was the end of the hardcover books. It's not going to happen (hopefully), and D&D needs to embrace the digital world. By adding an established site, Wizards didn't have to spend the time and resources to develop something on their own, which probably wouldn't have been as good.
Magic the Gathering - Became a billion-dollar brand. Yep, you read that right: a billion dollars. The game is as popular as ever, even if haters say otherwise.
Dungeons & Dragons Movie—Honor Among Thieves was a solid movie with 90+ scores for fans and critics alike. It did only $208.2 million worldwide and $114 million in the US. On a budget of $150 million, it was not a financial success, but we should be seeing more movies down the road, most likely with scaled-back CGI.
Baldur's Gate 3 - A massive success, raking in over 650 million dollars. In addition, it made history by sweeping the Game of the Year category at all five major video game award shows. More games are in the works.
Monopoly Go - Remember what we said about digital gaming being crucial to the WotC portfolio? Here's the proof. Scopley is the game's developer and publisher, but digital marketing and licensing make it possible, and digital marketing is under the Wizards umbrella. Monopoly Go has been downloaded over $150 million and has a revenue of over $2B.
The Bad
The OGL Disaster - It was the biggest D&D crisis since TSR collapsed and was purchased by Wizards. If you play D&D, you know about this. Did it kill the game or do irreparable damage, as many claim? Nope, but it sure as hell came close. The damage was already done by the time Wizards decided to reverse course. It's excellent that SRD 5.1 now exists under the Creative Commons CC-BY-4.0 license, but for many, it was too late. They may never fully recover from the shitshow that it was, and if they do, it's going to take a longggg time.
The Pinkertons - Seriously? You send a licensed group of thugs to get back Magic cards? Not good, not good at all.
Dan "Oldschoolmtg" Cannon had to know there would be some response after making the video. And how was he the only one to "accidentally" purchase the yet-to-be-released March of the Machine: The Aftermath set? But sending in Pinkertons? That was ridiculously over the top.
AI Art Scandal - This one struck a chord with me as a small creator who uses small creators' artists in their work. Some art editor(s) in the organization had to have been escorted out by security.
Christmas Layoffs - This one came from the top of Hasbro (thanks, Chris Cocks), but when you're the CEO and fire people ten days before Christmas, you're the asshole.
The Under the Radar
Judge Academy Partnership Ends - In a sudden move, Wizards told Judge Academy to hit the bricks. Judge Academy trained Magic judges, who in turn received compensation in the form of judge promo cards. These judges oversaw tournaments ranging from a tiny tourney at the local game store to the tournaments at GenCon. Judge Academy did some shady stuff (not giving judges their foils) and wasn't in the best financial shape before this happened.
Penguin Random House - Another company Wizards broke ties with. And why not? Hasbro already has a robust distribution system, and Ms. Williams's experience in fulfillment meant they no longer needed an external distributor. There was concern about how this would affect smaller game stores, so we'll have to see how that continues to shake out.
The Future
So where do Wizards of the Coast go from here? The hunt for a new CEO is on, but there is scant news on a possible replacement. They could promote someone internally, but the WotC succession plan probably didn't account for Ms. Williams' departure after only two years. With limited options, here are some candidates if they want to stay in-house.
Bill Rose - The senior vice president of Magic Studio at Wizards of the Coast, has been with the company since 1995 and has moved up the ladder during Magic's growth. He knows the company, works in the most profitable business within WotC, and has a background in finance with a bachelor's in economics from UPenn. He could also appeal to those clamoring for a more creative type to be in charge since his first role was as Magic Lead Designer.
Michael Johnson - The vice president Of Global Marketing & Commercial for Magic the Gathering, has the pedigree to be a CEO. He's held high-level management positions at Microsoft, EA, Google, and YouTube. Johnson has a BA in Business and Communications from UCLA and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. It's all good on paper, but he's only been at WotC for a little over a year, and there's a management layer.
Eugene Evans - The senior vice president of digital strategy and licensing could be an option. However, his lack of management experience in other companies—he's worked mainly as an advisor for various gaming-related companies—makes him likely a non-candidate.
There are countless external candidates. I have yet to spend time trying to whittle down the hundreds of people that could lead WotC's next chapter, let alone research them in depth, so it's a fruitless guessing game. Chris Cocks has an opportunity to hire the CEO of his former stomping ground. It will be interesting to see who that person is, and we'll keep a close eye on any news that can give us a hint of who that might be.
