In Corporate Earnings Call, Hasbro CEO Promises To Feminize Magic: The Gathering By "Poking Into The Romantic"

Magic: The Gathering, the world's first trading card game created by Richard Garfield in 1993, has weathered numerous storms over its three-decade history. From the Reserved List controversy to the disastrous Chronicles reprinting that crashed card values in the mid-1990s, Wizards of the Coast has repeatedly learned that alienating core players comes with severe consequences. Now Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks has announced another potentially damaging pivot: aggressively targeting female players with "women-centric" crossovers.

During Hasbro's Q2 2025 earnings call on July 23rd, Cocks revealed the company's demographic expansion strategy. When pressed by Roth Capital analyst Eric Handler about recent collaborations angling toward younger audiences with franchises like Spider-Man, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Sonic the Hedgehog, Cocks explained how he wants to do a hard turn into female-catering properties.

"Magic, I think, does better than most hardcore games or enthusiast games in terms of penetration with people who identify as female, but we still have a ways to go there," Cocks stated. "I think about 30% of the player base today are women, and we'd like to see that increase over time. So, we're also looking at IPs that could have some resonance there."

The CEO's next comments should alarm longtime players: "So, don't be surprised if you see us poking into romantic. Don't be surprised if you see us looking at K-pop bands. Nothing's off the table."

This strategy ignores decades of evidence showing what happens when entertainment properties abandon their core demographics to chase broader audiences. Star Wars under Kathleen Kennedy's leadership provides the clearest example. Kennedy's focus on female-led narratives and social messaging alienated the franchise's predominantly male fanbase, resulting in ratings disappointments like "The Acolyte" and the divisive sequel trilogy.

The earnings call revealed Magic's continued strength, with Cocks confirming that Final Fantasy became "the best selling set in Magic: The Gathering history." The collaboration sold out everywhere, with unopened boxes commanding exorbitant prices on secondary markets—sometimes five times their retail value. This success came from appealing to existing players' interests, not chasing new demographics.

Magic’s enduring appeal is due to its complexity and strategic depth which caters to anyone seeking intellectual challenge. Forcing demographic changes through "romantic" themes and K-pop crossovers risks destroying what makes Magic special: its focus on gameplay. It’s of note that the company has also caused itself problems when veering into identity politics of gender ideology and race-swapping in recent years which has turned off a lot of players.

Cocks noted that "new player average is always in kind of that 11- to 14-year-old range," but emphasized that "Magic players just never stop playing." The collector’s nature keeps players involved, but the company needs to understand who that demographic is that stays with the game and cater to them, not to some new modern audience.

What do you think of Hasbro's plan to feminize Magic: The Gathering through romantic and K-pop crossovers?

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