Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks called this “a last resort”
Hasbro, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, is laying off 1,100 workers. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, December 11, that Hasbro, which owns Dungeons & Dragons parent company Wizards of the Coast, is planning layoffs. The parent firm will lay off a total of 1,100 employees worldwide, a move that Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks described as “a last resort.”
According to Cocks, the layoffs appear to be the result of poor toy sales, particularly in the run-up to the critical Holiday season. It’s worth noting that Hasbro shares have dropped 21% in the last year, as first reported by Dicebreaker, and the Dungeons & Dragons film starring Chris Pine wasn’t the commercial success Hasbro had hoped for.
“While we’re confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make,” Cocks shared with his staff in an internal email. “I know this news is especially difficult during the holiday season. There is no sugar-coating how hard this is, particularly for the employees directly affected.”
Employees affected by Hasbro layoffs will be contacted during the next six months, according to Cocks’ internal email. Furthermore, Hasbro will exit its actual office premises in Rhode Island when its lease expires next month in January 2024.
At the moment, it is unclear how Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast will be affected. Cocks and Hasbro declined to say which of their owned companies will be directly affected by the layoffs and to what extent.