Magic: The Gathering is a huge cash earner for Hasbro and leads the company’s second-quarter growth.
This probably isn’t surprising to anyone that actually plays Magic, but the 26-year-old card game is still as popular as ever. In fact, it might be more popular now than it’s ever been. According to parent company Hasbro, who owns Magic: The Gathering maker Wizards of the Coast, much of their success can be attributed directly to Magic.
Forbes reports that Hasbro's 2nd-quarter revenue increased 9% over the same time last year, with most of that growth being led by Magic: The Gathering in both digital and physical formats.
The physical (or tabletop) version of Magic accounted for the bulk of that increase, with Hasbro noting a 12% increase in in-store participation in 2019. That includes regular events like Friday Night Magic as well as sanctioned local tournaments.
The second-largest booster for Hasbro was Magic: The Gathering Arena, the new digital version of the tabletop game. What began as an evolution of MTG Online has since grown to almost 3-million active players, according to Bloomberg.
And even though MTG Arena is made to essentially copy the tabletop game, Hasbro doesn't expect Arena's success to cannibalize tabletop players. It seems if a player likes one, there is also a good chance they'll play the other. However, Hasbro wants MTG Arena to appeal most to lapsed players who might not have a playgroup but would like some way to get back into the game.
MTG Arena is currently in an open beta that launched in September of last year. Hasbro reports that the final version of the game will officially launch "within the next four months."
Much of Magic’s success is attributed to its regular schedule of new releases and Hasbro’s hands-off approach to managing Wizards of the Coast. They don’t want to do anything that might upset the golden goose, as it were.
Although they are reportedly doing one thing for Wizards: Hasbro has asked the team to double its size over the next five years.