At Least Five Video Games Cancelled – WotC Scales Back Ambitions
Wizards of the Coast cancels “at least five video games” in a wave of “ambition readjustment.” But what does that mean, exactly?
According to reporting from Bloomberg, Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro’s goose that laid the golden egg, has canceled at least five video game projects as the new year dawns. Bloomberg reports that this is due to the company “scal[ing] back its ambitions in the industry.”
This is a powerful statement for the company that was charged with leading Hasbro’s movements on the digital gaming front. You might recall back in 2021, WotC not only got a new logo but a new role in the Hasbro umbrella.
The brand refresh was meant to herald a reorganizing of the company to focus on digital gaming. And not long after, WotC opened their own game studio in Austin, TX called Archetype Entertainment, followed by another one in July of last year, Skeleton Key. According to an interview with WotC CEO Cynthia Williams, WotC owns four more video game studios in various cities (for a total of six).
But what does this wave of cancellations mean?
WotC Cancels at Least Five Games
According to Bloomberg, the company should feel a minimal impact. In a statement from Wizards themselves, Bloomberg reports that WotC is still committed to using digital games:
“[Wizards of the Coast] have made some changes to our long-term portfolio to focus on games which are strategically aligned with developing our existing brands and those which show promise in expanding or engaging our audience in new ways.”
This is a lot of words to say that WotC wants to develop games that will make money and help Hasbro sell toys and grow its brands. After all, that’s the idea at the heart of their transformative digital strategy. WotC owns one studio working on a GI Joe game, for instance.
According to Bloomberg, the company has canceled an internal project, code-named “Jabberwocky”, as well as two more external games in early development.
A WotC spokesman said that fewer than 15 people will lose their jobs due to the shift, though they may be able to find positions elsewhere in the company.
If nothing else, these cancellations lend the appearance of a more “austere” direction, coming after Hasbro shares fell by 40% due in part to a downgrade of WotC by Bank of America late last year.
Adjusting the scale of your ambitions is something anyone who’s had to move back in with their parents should be familiar with. Unless your parents’ names are blue on Wikipedia, in which case, congratulations on your successful indie film/music career.
