Hasbro's Big Video Game Push Is Already Struggling

Key Points:

• Hasbro invested over $1 billion in building six internal game studios since 2022, focusing on PC and console games based on major franchises like Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and GI Joe.
• Despite initial ambitions, Hasbro canceled several game projects scheduled for 2028 and beyond, taking a $56 million impairment charge and signaling a refocus of its digital games portfolio.
• Key projects like Exodus and Warlock remain in development for 2027, but other studios, including Atomic Arcade (GI Joe game) and a Dungeons & Dragons action-adventure game with Giant Skull, have faced layoffs or cancellations.
• Hasbro is shifting strategy toward co-development and co-publishing with lower-cost partners, emphasizing trading card games and RPGs, while reducing investment in internal AAA game development after 2026.
• The company will continue big game releases but less frequently, supplementing them with service-oriented and smaller content projects, effectively moving back to a partnership and licensing model that previously drove successes like Monopoly Go! and Baldur’s Gate 3.