Wizards of the Coast

History

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) was founded by Peter Adkison in 1990 outside of Seattle, Washington, and its current headquarters is located in nearby Renton. The company was named after a guild of wizards in a role-playing game (RPG) Adkison was playing. The company published RPGs such as the third edition of Talislanta and its own product The Primal Order (1992). The Primal Order was a supplement designed for use with any game system, but Palladium Books sued WotC for using references to Palladium's game and system. The suit was settled in 1993.

In 1991, Richard Garfield approached WotC with the idea for a new board game called RoboRally but Adkison rejected it because the game would have been too expensive to produce. Adkison asked Garfield if he could invent a game that was portable and quick-playing, and Garfield agreed.

Adkison set up a new corporation called Garfield Games to develop Garfield's collectible card game concept into Magic: The Gathering. The new company sheltered the game from the legal battle with Palladium. Garfield Games then licensed the production and sale rights to WotC until the court case was settled, at which point Garfield Games was shut down. WotC debuted Magic: The Gathering in July 1993 at Origins Game Fair in Dallas. The following month, the game was extremely popular at Gen Con, selling out of its supply of 2.5 million cards, which had been planned to last until the end of the year. The game's success generated revenue that grew the company in two years from a few employees working in Adkison's basement headquarters to 250 employees in its own offices. In 1994, Magic: The Gathering won the Mensa Top Five Mind Games award, and the Origins Awards for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game of 1993 and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game of 1993.

In 1994, WotC began an association with The Beanstalk Group, a brand-licensing agency and consultancy, to license the brand Magic: The Gathering. After the success of Magic: The Gathering, in 1994, WotC published RoboRally, which won the 1994 Origins Awards for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board Game and Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game. Also in 1994, WotC also expanded its RPG line by buying SLA Industries from Nightfall Games and Ars Magica from White Wolf. In 1995, WotC published The Great Dalmuti, another card game by Richard Garfield, which won the 1995 Mensa Best New Mind Game award. In August 1995, WotC released Everway before closing its RPG product line four months later. In 1995, Wizards' annual sales passed US$65 million.

Acquisition of TSR and ''Pokémon Trading Card Game''

Wizards of the Coast announced the purchase of TSR, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons, on April 10, 1997. WotC acquired TSR and Five Rings Publishing Group for $25 million. As part of the sale, TSR employees were offered an opportunity to relocate from Wisconsin to the west coast. WotC continued using the brand name TSR until 2000 and allowed the trademark to expire in 2004. Between 1997 and 1999, the company spun off several TSR campaign settings, including Planescape, Dark Sun, and Spelljammer, to focus the business on the more profitable Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms lines.

In mid 1997, WotC revisited the concept of a third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, having first discussed it soon after the purchase of TSR. WotC released the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons in 2000 with the d20 System. The company released these properties under the Open Game License, which allows other companies to make use of those systems.

The new edition of Dungeons & Dragons won multiple Origins Awards in 2000, such as Best Roleplaying Game for Dungeons & Dragons and Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement for the Monster Manual. In 2002, WotC sponsored a design contest for which designers could submit proposals to produce a new campaign world to the company. WotC selected "Eberron", which game designer Keith Baker submitted, and its first campaign book was released in June 2004. The Eberron Campaign Setting won the 2004 Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Supplement. In 2003, WotC released version 3.5 of Dungeons & Dragons and the d20 system. The 30th anniversary of the D&D game was celebrated at Gen Con Indy 2004.

''Pokémon TCG''

On August 2, 1997, Wizards of the Coast was granted on collectible card games. In January 1999, WotC began publishing Pokémon Trading Card Game after acquiring the rights in August 1998. The game sold nearly 400,000 copies in less than six weeks and sold 10-times more units than initial projections. Some sports card series were discontinued in 1999 because so many printers were producing Pokémon cards. The game won the National Parenting Center's 1999 Seal of Approval.

Within a year, WotC had sold millions of copies of the Pokémon game and the company released a new set that included an instructional CD-ROM. WotC continued to publish the game until 2003. One of Nintendo's affiliates The Pokémon Company (formerly Pokémon USA) began producing a new edition for the game one day after the last of its agreements with Wizards expired on September 30, 2003. The following day, WotC filed suit against Nintendo, accusing it of "abandoning a contract with Wizards, the longtime producer and distributor of Pokémon trading-card games, and using Wizards-patented methods and technology to manufacture the games itself". The companies resolved the legal action in December 2003 without going to court.

Retail stores

After the company's success in 1999 with Pokémon, Wizards of the Coast acquired and expanded The Game Keeper, a US chain of retail gaming stores, eventually changing its name to Wizards of the Coast. The company's gaming center in Seattle was closed in March 2001. In December 2003, WotC announced it would close all of its stores to allow it concentrate on game design. The stores were closed in early 2004.

Acquisition by Hasbro

In September 1999, toy manufacturer Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast for about US$325 million. Avalon Hill, which Hasbro had purchased in mid-1998, was made a division of WotC in late 1999. In November 1999, WotC announced Gen Con would leave Milwaukee after the 2002 convention. Also in November, Vince Caluori became President of WotC.

On January 1, 2001, Peter Adkison resigned from WotC. In August 2001, the company, which had been a semi-independent division of Hasbro, was consolidated into Hasbro's game division. According to trade magazine ICv2: "this is seen as a loss of autonomy for WotC by most. The Hasbro release specified that despite the consolidation at the management level, WotC will continue to operate out of its Seattle offices." Between 2001 and 2002, Hasbro sold Origins Game Fair to Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), and in May 2002, it sold Gen Con to Peter Adkison.

2000–2010

In 2000, Wizards of the Coast introduced the Open Game License (OGL), which allowed the production of a wide range of unofficial commercial derivative works based on the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons; it is credited with increasing the market share of d20 products and leading to a "boom in the RPG industry in the early 2000s". Chuck Huebner became president and CEO of Wizards of the Coast in June 2002. In 2003, the company employed 850 people.

Throughout the early 2000s, WotC won multiple Origins Awards, including: 2001 Best Role-Playing Game Supplement (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting) and the Best Game Related Novel (Clan War 7th Scroll: The Lion); 2002 Best Role-Playing Adventure (City of the Spider Queen); 2005 Collectible Card Game or Expansion of the Year (Ravnica: City of Guilds expansion for Magic: The Gathering) and Gamer's Choice Best Historical Game of the Year (Axis and Allies Collectible Miniatures Game), and the 2006 Miniature or Miniatures Line of the Year (Colossal Red Dragon). It also won the 2002 Gold Ennie Award for "Best Publisher" and the 2006 Silver Ennie Award for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher".

In 2002, Wizards of the Coast's periodicals department was spun off; WotC outsourced its magazines by licensing Dungeon, Dragon, Polyhedron, and Amazing Stories to Paizo Publishing. The license expired in September 2007 and WotC began publishing the magazines online. In 2003, WotC released Dungeons & Dragons miniatures; collectible, painted, plastic miniature games. In 2004, the company added a licensed Star Wars line. In April 2004, Loren Greenwood succeeded Huebner as the subsidiary's president. Also in 2004, Avalon Hill became a subsidiary of WotC.

In early 2006, WotC filed a lawsuit against Daron Rutter, who was the administrator of the website MTG Salvation. The lawsuit said Rutter publicly posted confidential prototypes of upcoming Magic: The Gathering card sets to the MTG Salvation forums, ten months before the cards were to be released. The lawsuit was settled out of court, according to Mark Rosewater.

Greg Leeds succeeded Greenwood as president and CEO of WotC in March 2008. On June 6, 2008, Wizards released the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and began introducing fourth-edition online content in Dragon and Dungeon magazines.

Throughout the 2000s, WotC released new editions of Magic: The Gathering. In 2009, WotC announced a new edition called Magic 2010, which coincided with the first major rules change to Magic since the Revised Edition was released in 1994.

By 2008, the company employed over 300 people and went through a restructuring. On April 6, 2009, WotC suspended all sales of its products for the Dungeons & Dragons games in PDF format from places such as OneBookShelf, and its online storefronts RPGNow and DriveThruRPG. The company launched a lawsuit against eight people to prevent future copyright infringement of its books, including fourth-edition Dungeons & Dragons products that were sold through these places, and all older editions PDFs of the game.

2010–2020

In 2012, Ethan Gilsdorf writing for The New York Times reported sales of Dungeons & Dragons products had slumped. Despite the company not releasing sales figures, analysts and gaming experts noted sales had been declining. That year, WotC announced a public playtest to develop a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons called D&D Next. The 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons was released on July 15, 2014, with the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set. In 2014, 126,870 units of the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set were sold, and in 2018, 306,670 units of the product were sold.

Throughout the 2010s, WotC and its products continued to earn awards. This included multiple 2015 Origins Awards, such as: Role-Playing Game Fan Favorite (Dungeon & Dragons: Players Handbook), Role-Playing Supplement Fan Favorite (Dungeon & Dragons: Monster Manual), and Collectible Card Game (Magic the Gathering: Khans of Tarkir). WotC won the 2015 Gold Ennie Award for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher" and won the 2017 Gold Ennie Awards for "Fan's Choice for Best Publisher".

In 2014, 20th Century Fox acquired the screen rights to Magic: The Gathering to produce a movie series with Simon Kinberg attached to the project. Also in 2014, WotC filed a lawsuit against Cryptozoic Entertainment and Hex Entertainment alleging their online card game Hex: Shards of Fate was a clone of Magic: The Gathering. The three companies agreed to a settlement the following year. In 2015, it was reported an estimated 20 million people played Magic: The Gathering and that the game had tournaments, a professional league, and a weekly organized game program called Friday Night Magic.

Since the release of the 5th edition, WotC has published more than twenty Dungeon & Dragons books, including new rulebooks, campaign guides and adventure modules. According to The Seattle Times, 2017 had "the most number of players in its history". Writing for Bloomberg, Mary Pilon reported sales of the 5th edition of Dungeon & Dragons rose 41 percent in 2017 compared to the year before, and in 2018 rose another 52 percent. Pilon also said in 2017, nine million people watched others play D&D on the video-sharing platform Twitch.

In 2016, WotC partnered with OneBookShelf to create an online community-content platform called Dungeon Masters Guild (DMsGuild) that allowed creators to make and sell content using WotC's properties. Users of DMsGuild could also purchase earlier editions of Dungeon & Dragons as PDFs and as print-on-demand books.

In 2016, Chris Cocks replaced Greg Leeds as president of WotC. Giaco Furino writing for Vice reported high tensions over deadlines at the company. In 2019, WotC became a member of the Entertainment Software Association.

In April 2019, WotC announced the appointment of gaming-industry veteran James Ohlen as the head of its new studio in Austin, Texas; in January 2020 the new studio was revealed to be Archetype Entertainment. In June 2019, internet-streaming service Netflix announced WoTC would work with Anthony and Joe Russo to create an animated series based on the mythology of Magic: The Gathering. The Russo brothers were executive producers on the series, with writers Henry Gilroy and Jose Molina as showrunners, and Bardel Entertainment worked on animation. In July 2019, Joe Deaux reported in Bloomberg: "Magic is part of the [Hasbro's] 'franchise brands', a segment that accounted for $2.45 billion in net revenue for the company last year". According to Chris Cocks, Magic accounted for a "meaningful portion" of that sum and KeyBanc estimated the game's contribution was more than $500 million of the franchise brands.

In 2019, WotC released a Hearthstone competitor called Magic: The Gathering Arena, which is a free-to-play digital collectible card game with microtransaction purchases. It had been In open beta testing since September 2018. Brett Andress, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, predicted Magic: The Gathering Arena would boost earnings by at least 20 percent.

2020–present

In February 2020, during a Hasbro earnings call, CEO Brian Goldner said Wizards of the Coast was delivering positive results and that Hasbro planned to double WotC's revenues between 2018 and 2023. He also reported revenues from Magic: The Gathering had increased by over 30 percent; Magic: The Gathering Arena had a strong first year and Dungeons & Dragons revenues grew for the seventh consecutive year. Dungeons & Dragons virtual play increased by 86 percent during 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On June 1, 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, WotC released a statement in support of its Black fans, employees, and community members. This provoked a backlash; multiple open letters that criticized the company for its treatment of people of color, and documenting issues Black and Brown community members had taken with the company's actions were published. The New York Times, Polygon, and Kotaku reported following this criticism, WotC banned seven Magic: The Gathering cards that were deemed racially offensive from tournament-sanctioned play. The D&D team announced it would be changing portions of its fifth-edition product line that fans had criticized for being insensitive, such as racist portrayals of a fictional people known as the Vistani, and races characterized as monstrous and evil. The company also announced plans to change character creation to broaden the range of character types and adding a sensitivity disclaimer to some legacy products that include cultures inspired by Asia, Mesoamerica, and the Middle East. The Washington Post reported the tabletop community has widely approved of these changes, although Wired criticized some of the change attempts as often feeling "like lip service".

During its 2021 Investor Event, Hasbro announced the company would be reorganized into three divisions: Consumer Products, Entertainment, and Wizards & Digital. The announcement was paired with a rebrand including a new logo and refreshed website for WotC. Also in 2021, WotC opened a new video-game studio, whose first project was a high-budget game based on the G.I. Joe franchise. In 2022, Chris Cocks became CEO of Hasbro and Cynthia Williams replaced him as president of Wizards & Digital. In June 2022, Hasbro defeated a board challenge from activist investor Alta Fox Capital Management LLC., a hedge fund company that owned a 2.5 percent stake in Hasbro and had wanted to spin out WotC into a separate company to create what it saw as "more value by making a second publicly traded company with a more profitable line of business". In July 2022, WotC announced it was establishing another new video-game studio called Skeleton Key, which would focus on AAA games and would be headed by Christian Dailey, formerly of BioWare.

In April 2022, Hasbro acquired the digital toolset and game companion D&D Beyond from Fandom, and transferred control to WotC the following month. At the Hasbro Investor Event in October 2022, it was announced Dan Rawson, former chief operating officer (COO) of Microsoft Dynamics 365 was appointed to the newly created position of Senior Vice President for the Dungeons & Dragons brand to act as head of the franchise. According to Dicebreaker, Rawson's role was "part of Wizards' plans to apply more resources to the digital side of D&D" following Hasbro's purchase of D&D Beyond.

At a December 2022 investor-focused web seminar, Williams and Cocks called the Dungeons & Dragons brand "under monetized". They noted the high engagement of fans with the brand but said the majority of spending is by Dungeon Masters, who comprise around 20 percent of the player base. Williams commented the goal of increased investment in digital aspects of that product line was to "unlock" recurrent spending typical of digital games.

In 2022, The Gamer and Kotaku reported on the increased product-release schedule for Magic: The Gathering; The Gamer said the increased number of preview seasons for the game was leading to exhaustion within the community and had "drained the well of enthusiasm dry". Vice commented there was "a growing divide in the Magic: The Gathering community between the casual players and the collectors" because "some rich collectors have turned the cards into a kind of commodities market", and that "Wizards of the Coast has increasingly catered to this kind of consumer", leading to products that are too expensive for many casual players. In November 2022, CNBC reported: "Bank of America downgraded the stock of Wizard of the Coast's owner, Hasbro"; analyst Jason Haas stated changes to the Magic: The Gathering brand "amount to Hasbro 'killing its golden goose and that the "primary concern" is the overproduction of "Magic cards which has propped up Hasbro's recent results but is destroying the long-term value of the brand".

Between November and December 2022, there was speculation based on unconfirmed leaks saying WotC was planning to discontinue the OGL for Dungeons & Dragons. Following a WotC response to the speculation, the company released limited details of an update to the OGL the following month. Linda Codega, writing for Io9, reported on the details from a leaked full copy of the OGL 1.1 on January 5, 2023. Codega said: "every single licensed publisher will be affected by the new agreement ... The main takeaway from the leaked OGL 1.1 draft document is that WotC is keeping power close at hand." ICv2 commented the leaked OGL had several controversial parts. Following this leak, numerous news-and-industry-focused outlets reported on negative reactions from fans and professional content creators. TheStreet said WotC's main competitors quickly moved away from the OGL in the time it took WotC to settle on a response. Both Kobold Press and MCDM Productions announced upcoming new open tabletop RPG systems. Paizo announced a new Open RPG Creative License (ORC), a system-agnostic license, and other publishers joined the development of this new license. TheStreet also said WotC had united its player base against it; both TheStreet and Io9 noted the movement to boycott D&D Beyond and mass subscription cancellations; Io9 stated the "immediate financial consequences" forced a response by WotC. Io9 also reported WotC's internal messaging on the response to the leak was this was a fan overreaction.

In the following weeks, WotC reversed changes to the OGL and solicited public feedback before moving away from the OGL and releasing the System Reference Document 5.1 (SRD 5.1) under an irrevocable creative commons license (CC-BY-4.0). Edwin Evans-Thirlwell of The Washington Post wrote: "pushback from fans, who criticized WotC's response as far from an apology and a dismissal of their legitimate concerns, led WotC to backpedal further" and that the company "appears to have committed an irreversible act of self-sabotage in trying to replace [the OGL]—squandering the prestige accumulated over 20 years in a matter of weeks". Both Io9 and ComicBook.com called the major concessions by WotC a "huge victory" for the Dungeons & Dragons community. The Motley Fool said the "abrupt volte-face" was "an abject failure for Hasbro's business" if the assumed goal was to increase monetization of "Dungeons & Dragons properties, grow revenue for Hasbro, and earn more profits for Hasbro shareholders".

Also in January 2023, WotC canceled at least five unnamed video-game projects; an internal project code-named Jabberwocky, and two games that were in the early development stages. Jason Schreier writing for Bloomberg News said fewer than 15 people at WotC would lose their jobs but "the reorganization will land hard for several independent studios such as Boston-based OtherSide Entertainment and Bellevue, Washington-based Hidden Path Entertainment, both of which were working on games for Wizards of the Coast". In February 2023, Markets Insider reported Bank of America continued to rate Hasbro's stock as underperforming and said the company "faces a steep decline in its share price if it continues to 'destroy customer goodwill by over-monetizing brands within its Wizards segment. In April 2023, WotC sent private detectives from the Pinkerton agency to the house of a Magic: The Gathering YouTuber, who said the agents demanded he destroy cards from an unreleased set he had been accidentally sent, and to remove videos from his channel, otherwise he and his wife would face a $200,000 fine and imprisonment. The game's players subsequently initiated a boycott in response. In December 2023, TechCrunch reported that paperwork Hasbro filed with the SEC contained information announcing layoffs of 1,100 employees (20 percent of their entire workforce across all divisions) effective immediately. A wide range of WotC employees were laid off; Chase Carter of Dicebreaker commented: "past successes and future plans could not save Wizards of the Coast's workers from the hungry maw of corporate line-item reduction, and the full extent of this culling remains to be seen".

In March 2024, Wizards of the Coast stopped localizing Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons for Portuguese. The company received a vampetaço in retaliation. Cynthia Williams resigned at the end of April 2024 and was replaced that summer by John Hight, who left his long-time role at Blizzard Entertainment to take the job. The 3D virtual tabletop (VTT) Dungeons & Dragons simulator Sigil launched as part of D&D Beyond in March 2025. Later that month, approximately 90% of the development team were laid off by WotC; in an internal communication, Hasbro Direct senior vice president Dan Rawson stated "our aspirations for Sigil as a large, standalone game with a distinct monetization path will not be realized". Following the release of core rulebooks for the 2024 revision of Dungeons & Dragons, Creative Director Chris Perkins and Game Director Jeremy Crawford announced their departures from the company in April 2025. Christian Hoffer, for Screen Rant, highlighted that both "have been part of the Dungeons & Dragons design team for decades and were two of the lead designers of" Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

Studios

• Archetype Entertainment in Austin, Texas, U.S.; opened in April 2019.
• Atomic Arcade in Raleigh, North Carolina, led by Ames Kirshen, formerly vice-president of production and creative at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE), opened in September 2021.
• D&D Beyond; founded in 2017, acquired in May 2022.
• Invoke Studios in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; founded in 2012, acquired in October 2019.
• Mirrorstone Books; opened in 2004.
• Studio X in Renton, Washington, U.S.; reorganization of Magic: The Gathering R&D in 2018.
• Skeleton Key in Austin, Texas; opened in July 2022.
• Wizards Kids Studio in Seattle, Washington, U.S.; opened in December 2020.

Former

• Avalon Hill in Renton, Washington, U.S.; founded 1952, acquired by Hasbro in 1998, moved to Wizards of the Coast in 2004, moved back to Hasbro Gaming in 2021.
• Last Unicorn Games in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.; founded in 1994, acquired and dissolved in 2000.
• TSR, Inc. in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, U.S.; founded in 1973, acquired and dissolved in 1997.

Notes

References

References

1. Hasbro. "About the Company – Hasbro".
2. "Subsidiaries of the registrant: HASBRO, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES".
3. Ewalt, David M.. (2021-02-25). "Dungeons & Dragons Gets a Bigger Role at Hasbro". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
4. Hoffer, Christian. (February 25, 2021). "Wizards of the Coast Gets a Big Promotion at Hasbro".
5. "Company".
6. Appelcline, Shannon. (2011). "Designers & Dragons". Mongoose Publishing.
7. Stiles, Marc. (November 30, 2015). "After $45M sale, Wizards of the Coast has a new landlord in Renton".
8. (August 29, 2019). "The Story Behind the Wizards of the Coast Logo & Name". [[Gen Con]].
9. Fannon, Sean Patrick. (1999). "[[The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible]]". Obsidian Studios.
10. Tynes, John. (March 23, 2001). "Death to the Minotaur: Part 1". Salon.
11. Appelcline, Shannon. (August 3, 2006). "Wizards of the Coast: 1990 – present". RPGnet.
12. Tinsman, Brian. (2003). "The Game Inventor's Guidebook". [[Krause Publications]].
13. Miller, John Jackson. (2001). "Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist & Price Guide".
14. "American Mensa mind games past winners". Mind Games.
15. "Origins Award Winners (1993)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design.
16. Tynes, John. (March 23, 2001). "Death to the Minotaur: Part 2". Salon.
17. "Awards". Wizards of the Coast.
18. "Mensa Select Games".
19. Salomone, Rosemary C.. (2002). "Visions of Schooling: Conscience, Community, and Common Education". Yale University Press.
20. Brown, Janelle. (April 10, 1997). "Disaffected Fans Cheer D&D Buyout".
21. (2017-12-27). "The Story of D&D Part Two: How Wizards of the Coast Saved Dungeons & Dragons".
22. Varney, Allen. (May 3, 2006). "The Year in Gaming". [[The Austin Chronicle]].
23. (2014-11-25). "Dungeons & Dragons: A Journey of Imaginations".
24. (2017-09-07). "1980s space opera RPG Star Frontiers could be about to make a comeback".
25. (August 18, 2004). "Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons – Part IV". [[GameSpy]].
26. Johnson, Harold. (2004). "[[30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons]]". Wizards of the Coast.
27. (2018). "Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History". Ten Speed Press.
28. (2020-09-15). "Will Dungeons & Dragons Get A 6th Edition?".
29. (2008-11-20). "2000 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
30. (2008-11-20). "2004 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
31. (May 24, 2004). "Celebrate At Gen Con Indy As Dungeons & Dragons Turns 30". Wizards of the Coast.
32. (August 27, 1998). "Wizards Of The Coast Catches Pokémon Trading Card Game Rights!".
33. (February 3, 1999). "Pokemon Trading Card Game a Monster Success; Stores Selling Out of Product within Hours of Restocking on Shelves". Business Services Industry.
34. (March 8, 2000). "Pokemon Trading Card Game Phenomenon Celebrates One-year Anniversary With Release of Base Set 2; Base Set 2 Makes Learning the Game Easier with Instructional CD-ROM". Business Services Industry.
35. Engleman, Eric. (October 10, 2003). "A suit of cards: Wizards of the Coast sues Nintendo over Pokemon game". Puget Sound Business Journal.
36. Cook, John. (2003-10-11). "It's Wizards vs. Pokemon as ex-partners square off".
37. (December 29, 2003). "Pokemon USA, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Resolve Dispute". Business Services Industry.
38. (May 4, 1999). "Wizards to Buy The Game Keeper". [[IGN]].
39. FREY, CHRISTINE. (2003-12-30). "Wizards of the Coast to shut stores".
40. (September 9, 1999). "Hasbro gets the Wizard".
41. Deaux, Joe. (July 7, 2019). "Move Over Monopoly: Hasbro's Next Big Growth Engine Is Magic".
42. Carlisle, Rodney. (2009). "Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society". SAGE Publications.
43. (2008-04-15). "Hasbro - Brief History".
44. Miller II, Stanley A.. (August 3, 2002). "Gen gone: Next year, gamers will be draggin' their tales to Indiana prairie". [[Journal Sentinel]].
45. (November 17, 1999). "Vince Caluori promoted to president of WoTC". Fantasy and Science Fiction News.
46. (August 29, 2001). "Hasbro Clips WotC's Wings".
47. Bub, Andrew S.. (July 26, 2003). "Interview with Peter Adkison". [[GameSpy]].
48. Walsh, Kit. (2023-01-10). "Beware the Gifts of Dragons: How D&D's Open Gaming License May Have Become a Trap for Creators".
49. (2014-05-15). "The Rise and Fall of an Open Business Model". Revue d'économie industrielle.
50. (2022). "Intellectual Property and Tabletop Games". [[Iowa Law Review]].
51. Lang Jones, Jeanne. (March 9, 2003). "Focusing Wizards: CEO puts Wizards of the Coast under a corporate spell".
52. Arango, Tim. (2002-06-06). "Hasbro Fires Exec, Claiming Embezzlement".
53. (2003-10-11). "It's Wizards vs. Pokemon as ex-partners square off".
54. (2008-11-20). "2001 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
55. (2008-05-16). "2002 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
56. (2008-11-20). "2005 - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
57. (2008-05-11). "33rd Annual Origins Awards Winners - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design".
58. "The ENnie Awards -- 2002 Awards".
59. "The ENnie Awards -- 2006 Awards".
60. (July 8, 2002). "Wizards of the Coast Signs Exclusive Publishing Agreement With Paizo Publishing, LLC To Produce Top Hobby Industry Magazines". Wizards of the Coast.
61. (April 19, 2007). "Paizo Publishing to Cease Publication of ''Dragon'' and ''Dungeon''". [[Paizo Publishing]].
62. Magazine Publishers of America. (2003). "Defunct or Suspended Magazines 2007". Magazine Publishers of America.
63. (April 17, 2004). "Business Digest: Boeing issues new round of layoff notices".
64. (April 20, 2004). "Loren Greenwood Named New WotC President".
65. (January 19, 2006). "Wizards Of The Coast Takes Legal Action". Wizards of the Coast.
66. Rosewater, Mark. (June 19, 2006). "Law & Order". Wizards of the Coast.
67. "WotC Settles Suit With Fan".
68. (March 13, 2008). "Greg Leeds Joins as New Head of Wizards of the Coast". Wizards of the Coast.
69. (March 13, 2008). "New WotC President".
70. (June 6, 2008). "Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Rulebooks Now Available". Wizards of the Coast.
71. Fahey, Mike. (June 8, 2008). "D&D 4th Edition Called Forth From Fiery Pit".
72. (September 8, 2010). "Unboxing the New D&D Red Box {{!}} The Escapist".
73. Olivo, Benjamin. (2010-03-19). "Dungeons & Dragons' lasting magic".
74. "Magic 2010 Rules Changes - Reactions & Analysis {{!}} Article by Leaf".
75. (2009-07-03). "2010 Core Set Returns Magic: The Gathering to its Fantasy Roots".
76. "About Wizards".
77. (August 20, 2008). "Restructuring at WotC".
78. "WotC Ends PDF Download Sales".
79. (April 10, 2009). "Wizards of the Coast CEO Greg Leeds on PDFs - An ICv2 Interview".
80. Thorburn, Tolena. (April 6, 2009). "Wizards of the Coast sues eight for copyright infringement". Wizards of the Coast.
81. "Wizards Sues Eight".
82. Gilsdorf, Ethan. (2012-01-09). "Dungeons & Dragons Remake Uses Players' Input". The New York Times.
83. Locker, Melissa. "DIY D&D: Dungeons & Dragons Crowdsources the Classic Game".
84. Harnish, M. J.. (2012-01-09). "5th Edition D&D Is in Development -- Should We Care?".
85. Gilsdorf, Ethan. (2012-05-22). "Where Is D&D Headed Next? An Update with Mike Mearls ... And the Public Playtest Begins".
86. Hall, Charlie. (2014-08-11). "Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition gives freedom back to the Dungeon Master".
87. (December 9, 2014). "The awesome glory that is Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition / Boing Boing".
88. Lucard, Alex. (July 4, 2014). "Unboxing the D&D Starter Set (Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition/D&D Next)".
89. Pilon, Mary. (July 8, 2019). "The Rise of the Professional Dungeon Master". Bloomberg.
90. "Origins Awards Winners".
91. "2015 ENnie Award Winners | ENnie Awards".
92. "2017 Noms and Winners | ENnie Awards".
93. Kroll, Justin. (2014-01-13). "Fox Developing a 'Magic: the Gathering' Movie".
94. Pitcher, Jenna. (2014-01-14). "Magic: The Gathering film series on the cards for 20th Century Fox".
95. LeJacq, Yannick. (May 14, 2014). "Wizards Of The Coast Is Suing Someone For Cloning Magic: The Gathering".
96. Kerr, Chris. (September 29, 2015). "16 months on, Wizards of the Coast settles Hex: Shards of Fate lawsuit".
97. Duffy, Owen. (2015-07-10). "How Magic: The Gathering became a pop-culture hit – and where it goes next". The Guardian.
98. "Books {{!}} Wizards of the Coast".
99. Kunzelman, Cameron. (July 3, 2019). "Dungeons & Dragons Expands Its Line with Three New Releases".
100. Brodeur, Nicole. (2018-05-04). "Behind the scenes of the making of Dungeons & Dragons".
101. D'Anastasio, Cecilia. (July 29, 2016). "D&D's Dungeon Masters Guild Wants Players To Monetize Fan Content".
102. (2018-07-29). "The D20 Beat: The DM's Guild is a fantastic way for D&D to resurrect old settings".
103. "About Us".
104. (April 11, 2016). "Hasbro Announces New Leadership for Wizards of the Coast". Hasbro.
105. McFadden, Adam. (2012-06-27). "Wizards of the Coast brings a bit of Magic to Renton".
106. (2018-10-30). "From little kid to president of the company, Wizards of the Coast leader stays in the ever-evolving game".
107. Hall, Charlie. (2016-10-19). "The next D&D movie has a very low bar to clear".
108. Furino, Giaco. (2016-09-12). "I Spent a Gloriously Geeky Day with the Makers of Dungeons & Dragons".
109. (2019-08-07). "Video Game Industry Commitments to Further Inform Consumer Purchases".
110. Lopez, Ule. (2019-02-11). "ESA is Joined by SEGA, Riot Games, THQ Nordic, and Other Publishers".
111. (24 April 2019). "Wizards of the Coast Opens New Austin Studio".
112. Wales, Matt. (January 31, 2020). "Ex-BioWare vets working on story-driven sci-fi game at new Wizards of the Coast studio". [[Eurogamer]].
113. Patches, Matt. (2019-06-03). "The directors of Avengers: Endgame are adapting Magic: The Gathering for Netflix".
114. Joyner, Alfred. (July 7, 2019). "Sandman, Magic the Gathering, The Witcher: Every major fantasy adaptation coming to Netflix ahead of 'streaming wars' with Disney and Apple".
115. (2018-09-19). "Magic: The Gathering — Arena launches open beta test September 27".
116. Carter, Chris. (July 6, 2019). "Magic: Arena adds a battle/season pass, gets it all wrong with daily XP caps".
117. Motley Fool Transcribers. (2020-02-11). "Hasbro Inc (HAS) Q4 2019 Earnings Call Transcript".
118. Parvini, Sarah. (January 13, 2021). "Turning to Dungeons & Dragons to escape a real life monster — COVID-19". [[Los Angeles Times]].
119. (June 22, 2020). "'Racist' and 'culturally offensive' images pulled from hugely popular trading card game". Washington Post.
120. Parrish, Ash. (June 10, 2020). "Wizards Of The Coast Bans 7 Racist Magic: The Gathering Cards".
121. (June 23, 2020). "'Magic: The Gathering' pulls racist playing cards from popular game".
122. (2020-06-25). ""Magic: The Gathering" entfernt rassistische Spielkarten". Der Spiegel.
123. Pietsch, Bryan. (2020-06-22). "'Magic: The Gathering' Pulls Racist Playing Cards From Popular Game". The New York Times.
124. Hall, Charlie. (2020-06-10). "Racist Magic: The Gathering cards banned, removed from database by publisher".
125. Limbong, Andrew. (June 29, 2020). "'Dungeons & Dragons' Tries To Banish Racist Stereotypes".
126. Parrish, Ash. (June 23, 2020). "Wizards Of The Coast Will Finally Address Racist Stereotypes In Dungeons And Dragons".
127. Elliott, Josh K.. (June 25, 2020). "'Dungeons & Dragons' to change 'evil' races due to racial stereotypes".
128. (2020-07-10). "Dungeons & Dragons Adds Cultural Sensitivity Warnings to Legacy Titles".
129. Blum, Jeremy. (2020-07-11). "'Dungeons & Dragons' Book 'Oriental Adventures' Receives A Sensitivity Disclaimer".
130. (2020-06-25). "The game and comics industries are grappling with widespread allegations of harassment and abuse".
131. Modak, Sebastian. (July 24, 2020). "Amid a pandemic and a racial reckoning, 'D&D' finds itself at an inflection point". [[The Washington Post]].
132. "Dungeons, Dragons, and Diversity".
133. (February 26, 2021). "Wizards Of The Coast Gets New Logo and Look Amidst Hasbro Shakeup".
134. Griepp, Milton. (February 26, 2021). "WotC Makes More Money than Hasbro's Toy Business".
135. (September 27, 2021). "Wizards Of The Coast's New Studio Is Hiring For Its AAA G.I. Joe Game".
136. Hoffer, Christian. (September 26, 2021). "Wizards of the Coast Launches New AAA Game Studio, Working on GI Joe Game".
137. (February 2, 2022). "Wizards of the Coast Names New Leadership".
138. (February 2, 2022). "Hasbro Appoints New Leadership for Wizards of the Coast".
139. (2022-06-07). "Hasbro Fends Off Activist Alta Fox's Push for Board Shake-Up". Bloomberg.com.
140. Whitten, Sarah. (2022-06-08). "Dungeons & Dragons maker Hasbro wins board battle against activist investor Alta Fox".
141. (May 31, 2022). "An epic proxy battle comes to Hasbro". [[NPR]].
142. Whitten, Sarah. (2022-05-18). "Hasbro slams activist investor's proposed board directors as proxy battle heats up".
143. (June 8, 2022). "Hasbro Board of Directors Re-Elected, Defeats Attempt to Spin Out Wizards of the Coast".
144. Dinsdale, Ryan. (2022-07-26). "Wizards of the Coast Sets Up a Video Game Studio Led By Dragon Age Producer".
145. (July 26, 2022). "Wizards of the Coast Announces New Video Game Studio Led by Former BioWare Director".
146. Vlessing, Etan. (2022-04-13). "Hasbro Buys D&D Beyond for $146.3M in Gaming Expansion".
147. Vanjani, Karishma. "Hasbro Pushes for Digital Growth of Dungeons & Dragons With $146M Acquisition".
148. (April 22, 2022). "Change of D&D Beyond Ownership".
149. Zambrano, J. R.. (2022-05-11). "D&D Beyond Officially Changes Hands May 18th".
150. (October 4, 2022). "Hasbro Announces New Dungeons & Dragons Head".
151. (October 5, 2022). "Hasbro Adds SVP of 'D&D', Strengthening Online Side of Brand".
152. (2022-10-05). "Wizards of the Coast appoints former Microsoft e-commerce veteran as new senior VP of Dungeons & Dragons".
153. (December 9, 2022). "Dungeons & Dragons executives think "the brand is really under monetised"".
154. (December 12, 2022). "D&D CEO Thinks Hobby Is 'Under Monetized' Compared To Video Games".
155. Parlock, Joe. (2022-05-02). "Help, There's Too Much Magic: The Gathering Stuff Launching In The Rest Of 2022".
156. Parlock, Joe. (2022-10-11). "Magic: The Gathering Content Creators Are Exhausted".
157. (October 6, 2022). "Magic: The Gathering Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary by Selling $1,000 Boosters".
158. (November 16, 2022). "'Magic: The Gathering' angers fans with 30th anniversary collectible cards".
159. Harring, Alex. (November 14, 2022). "Bank of America says Hasbro could fall 34% due to company ruining 'Magic: The Gathering' card game".
160. (November 14, 2022). "Toy Company Slammed For Getting Greedy With Magic: The Gathering".
161. Law, Eric. (2022-11-14). "Rumor: One D&D Might Be Killing Third-Party Homebrew Content".
162. Chancey, Tyler. (November 22, 2022). "Wizards Clarifies One D&D Third Party Support".
163. (November 21, 2022). "Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Support for Third-Party Material as New Edition Draws Near".
164. (December 21, 2022). "The Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License Isn't Going Anywhere".
165. (December 21, 2022). "OGLs, SRDs, & One D&D".
166. (December 21, 2022). "Dungeons & Dragons Announces Changes to OGL, Some Third-Party Creators Must Report Revenue and Potentially Pay Royalties".
167. Codega, Linda. (2023-01-05). "Dungeons & Dragons' New License Tightens Its Grip on Competition".
168. (January 11, 2023). "'Dungeons & Dragons' OGL 1.1 Furor".
169. (January 13, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons & fear & loathing". Financial Times.
170. (January 12, 2023). "Dungeons and Dragons Is Jeopardizing Its Greatest Strength: Its Ubiquity".
171. (January 13, 2023). "'People are leaving the game': ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fans revolt against new restrictions".
172. Whitten, Sarah. (January 13, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons open game license update delayed following fan backlash".
173. Nattrass, J. J.. (2023-01-09). "D&D content creators outraged over licensing changes, demand the game remain "open"".
174. Northup, Travis. (2023-01-06). "Wizards of the Coast OGL Change Draws Ire From Creators and Fans Alike: 'It's Not Right'".
175. Plante, Corey. "D&D's community is up in arms over a controversial change".
176. (January 6, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons Community Holds Breath as Wizards of the Coast Prepares New OGL".
177. Button, Danni. (January 14, 2023). "Hasbro Faces Criticism Over Dungeons & Dragons Rules Change".
178. (2023-01-10). "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TV Show Announced Amid Controversy".
179. Law, Eric. (2023-01-10). "Dungeons and Dragons Publisher Kobold Press Making New Roleplaying System".
180. (January 10, 2023). "Matt Colville Announces Plans for New RPG as Dungeons & Dragons OGL Furor Continues".
181. (January 12, 2023). "Paizo Announces Its Own Gaming License Amid D&D OGL Controversy".
182. (January 12, 2023). "Paizo Addresses Pathfinder's Future, Announces New System-Neutral Open RPG License".
183. (2023-01-14). "Cancelled D&D Beyond Subscriptions Forced Hasbro's Hand".
184. (January 13, 2023). "An Update on the Open Game License (OGL)". Wizards of the Coast.
185. (January 13, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons Releases Statement on New OGL, Retracts Royalties and License Back Language".
186. (January 13, 2023). "Wizards of the Coast Breaks Their Silence on the Dungeons & Dragons OGL".
187. Hall, Charlie. (January 27, 2023). "D&D won't change the OGL, handing fans and third-party publishers a massive victory".
188. (January 27, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons Will Not De-Authorize Current OGL, Releases Full SRD Under Creative Commons License".
189. (January 27, 2023). "Dungeons & Dragons Scraps Plans to Update Its Open Game License".
190. (January 27, 2023). "System Reference Document 5.1". Wizards of the Coast.
191. Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin. (January 19, 2023). "The D&D Open Game License controversy, explained". [[The Washington Post]].
192. Smith, Rich. (2023-01-17). "A Big Change Could Be Coming for Hasbro: Should Investors Worry?".
193. Schreier, Jason. (2023-01-03). "Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast Cancels Video Game Projects". Bloomberg.com.
194. Welsh, Oli. (2023-01-04). "Wizards of the Coast reportedly cancels at least 5 video games".
195. (January 4, 2023). "D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast has cancelled at least five video games".
196. Schreier, Jason. (January 3, 2023). "Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast Cancels Video Game Projects".
197. Fox, Matthew. (February 7, 2023). "Hasbro 'continues to destroy customer goodwill' and the stock could crash 29% as it dilutes the value of Magic: The Gathering, Bank of America says".
198. (2023-04-25). "Magic: The Gathering YouTuber Says Pinkertons Threatened Him With $200k Fines, Jail".
199. Hall, Charlie. (2023-04-24). "Magic publishers sent Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber's house to retrieve leaked cards".
200. Carter, Chase. (2023-04-27). "Magic: The Gathering publisher hires Pinkerton to seize leaked cards from YouTuber's house".
201. Gose, Lance. (2023-05-03). "Magic: The Gathering Players Launch Boycott Over WOTC's Pinkerton Controversy".
202. (11 December 2023). "Hasbro to cut 1,100 jobs despite Dungeons & Dragons thriving".
203. Randall, Harvey. (2023-12-13). "Hasbro's 1,100 layoffs have hit D&D and Magic: The Gathering hard, as a growing list of staff announce their departures". PC Gamer.
204. Carter, Chase. (2023-12-13). "D&D and MTG designers, artists and producers lose jobs among over 1,000 Hasbro layoffs, former devs confirm".
205. (4 March 2024). ""Vampetaço": fãs de Magic protestam nas redes sociais". Game on.
206. "Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams Resigns".
207. "Funko Appoints Cynthia Williams Chief Executive Officer, Board Member".
208. (July 18, 2024). "Longtime World of Warcraft leader John Hight named president at Wizards of the Coast".
209. Machkovech, Sam. (2025-03-12). "After years in development, D&D's Unreal-powered virtual tabletop still feels off".
210. Carter, Chase. (2025-03-19). "Wizards of the Coast shutters Sigil virtual tabletop project, lays off 30 staff".
211. Hall, Charlie. (2025-03-19). "D&D suffers more layoffs as Wizards cuts Sigil VTT staff by 90%".
212. Hoffer, Christian. (April 11, 2025). "Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins to Leave Dungeons & Dragons' Design Team".
213. Sinclair, Brendan. (April 24, 2019). "James Ohlen joins Wizards of the Coast". [[GamesIndustry.biz]].
214. (2020-01-30). "Wizards of the Coast's new Archetype Entertainment studio is making a sci-fi RPG".
215. Macgregor, Jody. (September 27, 2021). "Wizards of the Coast is making a big-budget G.I. Joe game".
216. (2019-10-29). "Wizards of the Coast acquires Tuque, which is making a D&D triple-A game".
217. (2008-07-31). "Celebrate young adult literature's rise with Teen Read Week 2008".
218. Rosewater, Mark. (May 12, 2021). "Blogatog".
219. Rosewater, Mark. (September 7, 2022). "Blogatog".
220. Tanner, Nicole. (December 12, 2020). "Wizards of the Coast hires video game vet Leah Hoyer to lead new Wizards Kids Studio".
221. (September 9, 2020). "Management of Avalon Hill Board Game Brand Will Move From Wizards of the Coast to Hasbro".
222. (February 25, 2021). "EDITED TRANSCRIPT HAS.OQ - Hasbro Inc Investor Event 2021".
223. (March 27, 2001). "Decipher Nabs Last Unicorn Developers".