$56M in Canceled Games Later, WotC's President Quits

Last week, Hasbro quietly recorded a $56 million impairment charge against its gaming division after canceling several video game projects that had been slated for 2028 and beyond. Seven days later, the person who oversaw those projects is on his way out.

John Hight, president of Wizards of the Coast since August 2024, will leave the role on September 1, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated July 27. He won't leave the company entirely; instead, he'll shift into an advisory role reporting to Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks. As first reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Wizards of the Coast issued a statement framing the departure in the warmest possible corporate language:

"After two years as President of Wizards of the Coast, John Hight is transitioning from the role, effective September 1. We're deeply grateful for his leadership and the contributions he's made to our teams and our games during his tenure. John will continue to support Wizards in an advisory capacity while pursuing other creative and professional opportunities he's passionate about."

The statement also insists there is "no change to the strength of the Wizards business," pointing to Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons as performing "incredibly well." The company says its 2027 video game slate, including sci-fi RPG Exodus and Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons, "remains on track." But the games that didn't make it through are the ones that define this story.

What $56 Million Buys You

Hasbro never specified exactly which projects were axed in last week's impairment disclosure, but we know some of the casualties. The D&D action-adventure game being developed by Giant Skull, the studio led by Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen, was confirmed dead back in May when Wizards of the Coast ended its publishing agreement with the studio. A big-budget GI Joe game announced in 2021 also appears to be in serious trouble, though Hasbro claimed earlier this year it hadn't been canceled outright.

Hight came to WotC from Blizzard Entertainment, where he'd spent nearly 13 years and served as general manager of the Warcraft franchise. He arrived with ambitions that went well beyond tabletop. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz last year, he talked openly about wanting to build a Dungeons & Dragons MMO. "I'd love to have that," he said. "I think that we'll want to rethink what an MMO is in this day and age." That MMO never materialized. A team of former EA developers, led by Shadow of Mordor creative director Michael de Plater, joined Wizards of the Coast to work on an unannounced title during Hight's tenure. No details on that project have surfaced since.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said during last week's earnings call that 2026 should be the company's "peak year for digital investment" and that it plans to cut its "digital spend" by at least 25% by 2028. I don't think you need to read between too many lines here. Hasbro is pulling back from conventional video game development, and the person they hired specifically to lead that push is being moved into an advisory role where he'll collect his $800,000 salary without the authority to greenlight anything.

Wizards of the Coast says it's launching "an internal and external search" for Hight's successor. The union question adds another layer to this transition. The developers behind Magic: The Gathering Arena formed their union with the Communications Workers of America earlier this year, and the group, now called United Wizards of the Coast, was officially elected in June. Whoever steps into this role inherits not just a shrinking video game portfolio but a newly unionized workforce.

I find it hard to separate Hight's exit from the $56 million write-down, no matter how diplomatically WotC phrases it. You don't bring in a Blizzard veteran to run your gaming ambitions, cancel tens of millions of dollars' worth of projects on his watch, and then describe his departure as a mutual creative decision with a straight face. Magic and D&D will keep printing money regardless of who sits in the president's chair. Whether Hasbro's next hire will have any mandate to make video games at all, or whether the job description quietly shrinks to match the budget, remains unclear.