In a sudden staffing shake-up that will come as little to surprise to Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons players, after a brief, controversy-filled tenure of just two years, Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming president Cynthia Williams has announced her resignation from the popular game publisher.
Williams’ exit was first disclosed on April 17th via an official corporate filing made by Hasbro with the United States Exchange and Securities Commission (SEC).
Therein, the company announced, “On April 15, 2024, Cynthia Williams, President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming, informed the Company of her resignation from the Company effective April 26, 2024. The Company is conducting a process to identify her successor, looking at both internal and external candidates.”
As noted above, though sudden, Williams’ exit is far from unsurprising.
Appointed to her now-former role in February 2022 after her predecessor, Chris Cocks, was promoted to his current position as Hasbro CEO, Williams’ time with the company saw the main division under her control, Wizards of the Coast, marred by near endless controversy.
In regards to the publisher’s popular Magic: The Gathering card game, under her leadership, the brand suffered such reputational disasters as the release of a set featuring race-swapped versions of classic The Lord of the Rings characters, a player being threatened with jail time after being accidentally-but-legally sold a then-upcoming-booster-box ahead of its street date, and the introduction of a product release schedule so constant – nearly one set every month – that players have found themselves avoiding buying any new cards whatsoever out of fear that they could be rendered worthless near immediately after purchase.
Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coasts’ other ‘big name’ title, Dungeons & Dragons, saw those in charge of its production decry white male players simply for existing, attempt to introduce a highly-predatory open game license, and make several ‘sensitivity’ and ‘diversity’-related changes to its core identity, such as the removal of the terms ‘race‘ and ‘half-species‘ from the game’s lexicon.
Further, in perhaps providing some insight as to why the publisher stumbled so much during her time in charge, as revealed by Williams herself in a 2022 interview with GeekWire‘s Thomas Wilde, rather than ensuring their products remained accessible, affordable, and compelling, her main leadership focus for Wizards of the Coast was instead the continued promotion of ‘diversity’ across both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
“Since I got here, it has very much been about inviting more people to the party, and making sure that they found a space where they could express who they are,” she told Wilde. “Our games teach that diversity is a strength. D&D in particular will teach you that together, you can overcome tasks, challenges, or an adventure that you wouldn’t have been able to on your own.
“When you’re playing Magic, you’re seeing the diversity of the world, in the characters,” she added. “You see yourself. I love the stories of people playing Dungeons & Dragons and being able to express who they are in that game, which leads them to being able to express who they are in their real life. We’re very much cultivating that level of diversity as we’re inviting players in.”
