Hasbro Acquires ‘Harry Potter’ License, But Wizards Of The Coast Say No Plans For ‘Magic: The Gathering’ To Visit Hogwarts
Despite both the merchandising license to J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world now being firmly under the control of parent company Hasbro and Magic: The Gathering‘s recent propensity towards Universe Beyond crossover sets, Wizards of the Coast say they have no plans to add the world of Harry Potter to the TCG’s ever-expanding multiverse (at least for now).
Announced ahead of Hasbro’s Q4 2025 on February 10th, the newly-inked Hogwarts deal establishes the toy manufacturer as “the global primary toy licensee for the world of Harry Potter and the upcoming HBO Original Harry Potter series,” a position which will see them “bring the universe to life through a range of film and HBO Original series-inspired products featuring dolls, role play, action figures & collectibles, interactive plush, board games and more to be revealed later this year.”
Speaking to the deal, Warner Bros. Discovery president of global consumer products Robert Oberschelp further detailed, “Our new agreement with Hasbro arrives as the world of Harry Potter celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first film and continues to expand its magical legacy—powered by one of the most passionate and enduring fan communities in entertainment history.”
“Our partnership with Hasbro will deliver fresh, innovative toys, collectibles and games inspired by the beloved Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films and the new HBO Original TV series.”
Given how recent years have seen WotC going absolutely wild with their Universes Beyond efforts, with recently- or soon-to-be-added franchises including Fallout, Marvel Super Heroes, and Star Trek, many players were quick to assume that Hasbro’s Harry Potter partnership would bring with it some level of MTG crossover, whether a full set or at the very least a Secret Lair drop.
But rather than excitement, this possibility was met with widespread apprehension across MTG‘s general player base, many of whom either identify as LGBT or support said communities and as such hold a firm resentment towards the aforementioned Rowling due to her outspoken criticism against contemporary transgender issues.
However, in responding to a thread discussing the possibility of Hogwarts getting its very own MTG acceptance letter on the /r/MagicTCG subreddit, the official WotC community team announced, “The Magic Multiverse has its own school of Magic at Strixhaven with plenty of secrets still to explore. Our Universes Beyond roadmap currently doesn’t have us visiting any others.”
Of course, while WotC’s stance appears firm on its face, the MTG developer has a confirmed history of backpedaling on their public promises, such notable examples including ‘Universes Beyond cards will never be Standard format legal’ and ‘Mechanically unique Universes Beyond cards will receive in-universe reprints’.
As such, whether or not WotC – or more realistically Hasbro – will stick to their guns ultimately remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, MTG is set to revisit its aforementioned ‘magical academy’ setting this April with the upcoming Secrets of Strixhaven set.
