Dive Brief:
- Hasbro has named John Hight president of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming, succeeding Cynthia Williams who resigned from the role in April after a two-year stint with the company.
- Hight previously served as senior vice president and general manager of the Warcraft Franchise at Blizzard Entertainment, overseeing development and commercial activities for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble. In his new role as president, Hight reports directly to CEO Chris Cocks, who himself was president of Wizards of the Coast from 2016 to 2022, according to details emailed to Retail Dive.
- Hasbro also announced Thursday that Holly Barbacovi has returned to the company as its chief people officer, heading the company’s global human resources organization. Barbacovi was with Hasbro from 2016 to 2020 as Wizards of the Coast’s vice president of human resources and most recently was chief operating officer at Bungie.
Dive Insight:
As president, Hight will oversee Hasbro’s network of gaming studios and digital licensing agreements, as well as lead strategy for the company’s Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons units.
“I admire John’s career focus on fostering community. He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play,” Cocks said in a statement. “John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave.”
Hight’s appointment follows the company’s first-quarter results, which saw revenue decline 24% year over year to $757.3 million. Within the Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming segment, revenue rose 7%.
As Hight assumes his new role, he is joined by other recent additions to the executive team. On July 11 Hasbro announced the appointments of Dan Shull and Stephanie Beal to the posts of chief digital information officer and chief supply chain officer, respectively. Also, Dan Rawson expanded his Global Play Lead role by now overseeing Hasbro Direct, which includes Hasbro Pulse and other direct-to-consumer digital strategies.
