Wizards of the Coast’s parent company Hasbro thinks Magic: The Gathering will continue to see growth despite ‘recessionary pressures’, according to a recent investor call.
In the call discussing Hasbro’s Q1 2025 financial results, which took place on April 24, the company’s CEO Chris Cocks spoke about how a potential period of economic instability would affect customer spending.
But while he revealed a “cautious outlook” in the toy category, anticipating a drop in consumer spending in the “mid single digits”, it seems the company doesn’t expect to see the same thing with Wizards of the Coast.
“Historically Magic has been very economically macro-resiliant,” the CEO explained. “In 2008/09 [the Great Recession] it was growing double digits. It’s a passion-based game and the collectors aren’t really tied to the S&P 500 or the performance thereof.”
Hasbro also said that it thinks the category of small luxuries will fare better than other discretionary categories or experience categories.
This comes after a bumper quarter for Wizards of the Coast, with Magic: The Gathering revenue up 45%. In the call, this was attributed to a wide range of factors rather than one MTG set in particular standing out, symptomatic of “an expansion of the playerbase”.
MTG’s Universes Beyond crossover releases got a lot of attention in the call for bringing new players on board, and Hasbro expects its UB releases later in the year to be particularly strong. Cocks reported that MTG Final Fantasy is already the best-selling Magic set, months before it has even been released.
Of course, Magic looks very different today than it did in 2008, so it remains to be seen if Cocks’ prediction will come true. While the cost of the cheapest booster pack has remained about the same, once you factor in inflation, there are several, far more expensive products on the market for Magic now, such as collector boosters.
The main MTG precon decks fans buy are $45 Commander decks rather than $13 theme or tournament decks. Plus, the entire landscape of the game has changed – most Standard matches are now played online via Arena, and Commander has become the most popular paper format.
But I’m not an economist, so I’m not about to make bold guesses. Not on a Friday afternoon, anyway.
If you’re a Magic: The Gathering fan who wants to be more in the know, you should check out our MTG release schedule or join the conversation on our Discord. You can also improve your win rate with this list of the best MTG Arena decks.
Source: Wargamer
