John Hight, president of Wizards of the Coast, will step down from his position on September 1. The information was disclosed through a document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 27. The executive will remain with the company as an advisor following the transition.Hight took over as president of Wizards of the Coast in August 2024, two years ago. Prior to that, he was general manager of the Warcraft franchise at Blizzard, where he worked for nearly 13 years. At the helm of Wizards, he oversaw the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering franchises, as well as several video games in development, including the science-fiction RPG Exodus.The departure comes one week after Hasbro, Wizards' parent company, recorded a $56 million impairment charge in its video game portfolio. The company confirmed the cancellation of "several" games planned for 2028 and subsequent years.In a statement sent to GamesIndustry.biz, Wizards of the Coast said that there is "no change in the strength of the business" and that Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons continue to perform "incredibly well," in line with recent financial results. The company also confirmed that its 2027 release schedule, including Exodus and Warlock, remains unchanged.Wizards has begun an internal and external search for a successor. In an interview last year, Hight expressed interest in developing a new Dungeons & Dragons MMO. In the same interview, Hight revealed that a team of developers who had worked on EA's canceled Black Panther game had joined Wizards for a new title, led by creative director Michael de Plater of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.In May of this year, however, Wizards announced the end of its publishing agreement with Giant Skull, the studio founded by Star Wars Jedi: Survivor director Stig Asmussen, which was developing an action-adventure game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.With information from: Gamesindustry.biz
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