Hasbro released a financial report earlier today that showed while fourth-quarter sales for the company were lower than projected, Magic: The Gathering sales crested $1 billion for the first time.
Hasbro had a rocky 2022 fourth quarter, from a clash with the Dungeons & Dragons community over the Open Gaming license and an upset MTG community over the Magic30 booster packs to terminating over 1,000 jobs. Even stocks for the company dropped throughout 2022. But sales for Magic: The Gathering tabletop products were exceptionally strong throughout the year. In conjunction with MTG Arena, the trading card game brought in over $1 billion in revenue for the first time ever, according to Hasbro.
Each of the MTG Standard-legal sets that were released in 2022 set records by exceeding $100 million in revenue, while the supplemental set Warhammer 40K Universes Beyond Commander decks were reprinted three times to meet the demand from players.
“As we announced previously, our fourth quarter and full-year 2022 results came in below our expectations,” Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said. “Despite this, we delivered our first billion-dollar brand in Magic: The Gathering and another record year at Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming, we grew key investment areas including licensing and direct-to-consumer, and we improved adjusted operating profit margin.”
Hasbro is on a solid path to once again break the $1 billion mark for 2023 with MTG. The completion of the Phyrexian arc wraps up with Phyrexia: All Will Be One and March of the Machine. And a supplemental micro set called March of the Machine: The Aftermath is slated to drop in March.
The Universes Beyond supplemental sets are stacked as well through The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth (releasing through digital and tabletop), along with the Dr. Who Commander decks.