Sign of the Times: Classic Toy Company Boasts About $1 Billion Investment in New Field
Few names are more synonymous with the traditional toy space than Hasbro.
The multinational entertainment conglomerate based out of Rhode Island has its hand in a number of massive franchises, from Transformers and G.I. Joe to Marvel and Star Wars.
It also owns a number of classic board game properties, such as Monopoly, as well as other childhood staples like Nerf and Play-Doh.
Point being: The company is a big deal in that very traditional space, but now it appears dead set on expanding into the more modern toy space of video games, as well.
Dan Ayoub, head of digital product development at Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast brand (primarily known for publishing “Dungeons & Dragons” content), spoke to gameindustry.biz in a piece that came out Tuesday.
“The biggest thing to takeaway, which is honestly a little surprise to a lot of people, is that Hasbro is in fact making video games,” Ayoub told the outlet. “And we have a considerable investment in our studio structure; we’ve got over $1 billion in games right now being developed.”
According to gameindustry.biz, Hasbro already has four AAA studios, including one that’s actively working on an anticipated G.I. Joe video game.
“Hasbro’s a 100-year-old company and it’s built on play,” Ayoub said. Hasbro was founded in 1923.
Ayoub added: “It’s always been about play, it’s always been about entertaining people. And gaming is the predominant form of entertainment for a lot of people, and it’s something that just continues to grow.
“So in a lot of ways, it makes sense for Hasbro to be in this space.”
Ayoud went on to claim that the company had massive ambition in the space.
“Video games is an integral part of Hasbro’s strategy going into the next 100 years and we have to make sure that everything that comes out is top quality, is authentic, and is something we can build upon, because we’re talking about a couple studios and a couple games right now, but we have much larger ambitions for that,” he said.
While Ayoub may characterize this as an organic step in a grander plan, Hasbro’s appetite was also likely whetted when it saw the massive success of two video games it was involved with.
Massive 2023 smash hit “Baldur’s Gate 3” was produced by Larian Studios, but the actual “Baldur’s Gate” property belongs to Wizards of the Coast.
Simultaneously, a modern update and homage to classic computer role-playing games, “Baldur’s Gate 3” was a runaway success in just about every metric imaginable.
The lengthy RPG is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and computer.
Meanwhile, “Monopoly Go!” boasts wild popularity and an even wilder budget. The mobile, free-to-play game has generated over $2 billion in revenue.
Scopely made the smash-hit “Monopoly Go!” perhaps again leaving Hasbro a bit more wanting in some of the game’s success.
“Monopoly Go!” is available on iOS and Android devices.
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