Wizards of the Coast President is Leaving the Company

April 17, 2024

Highlights

Cynthia Williams, president of Wizards of the Coast, is stepping down, leaving a vacancy for her successor at the renowned tabletop gaming company.
The legacy Williams leaves behind includes successful releases like Baldur’s Gate 3 and controversies such as the Pinkerton detective incident.
Hasbro, the parent company of Wizards of the Coast, is currently searching for both internal and external candidates to fill the vacant position.

The president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming, Cynthia Williams, will soon be stepping down from her position in the company. Hasbro is yet to decide on who will replace her as head of Wizards of the Coast.

As owners of the rights to some of the biggest tabletop roleplaying and trading card games of all time, Wizards of the Coast has become a name familiar to almost any board gamer since its inception in 1990. Alongside household staples such as Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast has also produced a host of other tabletop games. Since the toy manufacturing conglomerate Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast for a staggering $325 million in 1999, the company has developed further into the digital world of gaming, most recently releasing the award-winning Dungeons and Dragons RPG Baldur’s Gate 3.

Since launching back in August 2023 Baldur’s Gate 3 has earned critical acclaim everywhere it’s looked, and that includes a number of big award shows.

A filing to the SEC on April 15, as spotted by Rascal News on Twitter, shows that Wizards of the Coast president Cynthia Williams’ resignation comes into effect on April 26. Williams has held the position since 2022, when her predecessor Chris Cocks became the overall head of Hasbro. It appears that her successor has not yet been chosen, and Hasbro is currently “conducting a process to identify her successor, looking at both internal and external candidates.’’ The news of this change in management comes shortly after the developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 announced that they are moving away from the franchise, although Larian CEO Swen Vincke insists this decision had nothing to do with Wizards of the Coast.

What Legacy will the Wizards of the Coast President Leave Behind?

The last two years have been a tumultuous time for Wizards of the Coast, one of both great successes and controversies. Capitalizing on the iconic TTRPG’s surge in popularity, 2023’s lighthearted action-adventure film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brought the franchise to a wider audience. The triumphant release of Baldur’s Gate 3 further catapulted D&D into the spotlight. Not only did the title win a host of Game of the Year awards, but the licensing deal between Wizards of the Coast and Larian Studios reportedly earned Hasbro around $90 million. Last year’s exclusive set of Lord of the Rings cards for Magic: The Gathering also became an instant hit with players and collectors alike.

However, these undeniable success stories were marred by a series of highly controversial moves by the company. In April 2023, Wizards of the Coast sent Pinkerton detectives to reclaim an accidentally released set of Magic: The Gathering cards, a reaction deemed over-the-top by many. Furthermore, the company landed in hot water when fans spotted Magic: The Gathering adverts using AI-generated artwork despite its promise to support hand-drawn artwork. Pressure from the D&D community also forced Wizards of the Coast to backtrack after an attempt to revoke the Open Games License, which allowed players to create their own tabletop experiences using D&D‘s framework. Fans will need to wait to discover which direction Wizards of the Coast’s next president will take the company.