Dive Brief:
- Hasbro announced the opening of Wizards of the Coast Studios in Montréal, according to a Thursday press release.
- The new hub will focus on developing content for Dungeons & Dragons and will support the Wizards of the Coast digital games portfolio.
- The studio, which is over 35,000 square feet, will grow to around 200 employees in the next two years.
Dive Insight:
Hasbro is accelerating its efforts with Dungeons & Dragons with the opening of a new studio.
“This studio will grow to be the largest concentration of video game talent at Hasbro, built on one of the world's deepest game development ecosystems,” Dan Ayoub, head of Dungeons & Dragons and head of Wizards of the Coast Canada, said in a statement. “We're here to create the next generation of digital game titles, and to do it with the incredible talent this city has to offer.”
Wizards of the Coast has had a presence in the city since 2019 when it acquired Invoke Studios.
The Hasbro subsidiary recently announced a number of initiatives with Dungeons & Dragons, including the November launch of Dungeons & Dragons: World of Warcraft, a new mobile experience for D&D Beyond and updates across D&D’s digital and video game platforms.
“D&D is actually performing quite well … particularly D&D Beyond,” Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said on a recent call to analysts regarding the company’s Q2 performance.
In that quarter Hasbro’s net revenue increased over 16% to $1.1 billion, largely driven by its Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming segments, which were up 27% year over year.
Last year, Hasbro announced it was moving its Rhode Island operations to Boston. The location in the city’s Seaport District is now the primary headquarters for its toys, board games, licensing businesses and most of its corporate services.
