WotC WotC President Cynthia Williams Resigns

Cynthia Williams, who has been president of Wizards of the Coast for the last two years, will be leaving the company at the end of the month, according to an SEC filing dated April 15th. Hasbro is already looking for somebody to step into the role.

Williams worked for Microsoft on the Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team before joining WotC two years ago, stepping into the role that then-president Chris Cocks vacated when he was promoted to CEO of Hasbro in February 2022.

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
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.

According to Rascal News, WotC responded with a comment: "We’re excited for Cynthia to take the next step in her career and grateful for the contributions she has made in her more than two years at Wizards and Hasbro. We wish her the absolute best in her next endeavor. We have started the search for our next President of Wizards of the Coast and hope to have a successor in place soon."

 

[Zardnaar]

Oh well makes very little difference to me. Can't say anything positive or negative as to her contributions.

Shrugs.

 

[bedir than]

I hope someone will replace Cocks who might steer their IPs in better directions.

Better than BG3, Honor Among Thieves, 3 D&D series, a Netflix MtG series, the Lord of the Rings and Baldur's Gate MtG sets?

Those were all Cocks

 

[MNblockhead]

Lmao You're going to straight-face tell us all that the loss of Kobold Press and Paizo wasn't damaging? Okay, sure. And by that logic, I suppose that Paizo's putting out their ORC was just a way to help boost WotC's bottom line.

What loss of Kobold Press? Kobold Press is selling books in DDB now.

I don't see what financial effect the ORC license will have on WotC.

Other than the damage done to your, and a handful of other spurned WotC-never-again ex-fans', estimation of the company, the OGL fiasco has had little lasting negative repercussions for WotC.

The only ones being punished are those of us who have to put up with the continued wailing and gnashing of teeth from a small number of very vocal and prolific posters on RPG forums.

 

[Parmandur]

What loss of Kobold Press? Kobold Press is selling books in DDB now.

I don't see what financial effect the ORC license will have on WotC.

Other than the damage done to your, and a handful of other spurned WotC-never-again ex-fans', estimation of the company, the OGL fiasco has had little lasting negative repercussions for WotC.

The only ones being punished are those of use who have to put up with the continued wailing and gnashing of teeth from a small number of very vocal and prolific posters on RPG forums.

No, we don't, if you catch my drift.

 

[MNblockhead]

Better than BG3, Honor Among Thieves, 3 D&D series, a Netflix MtG series, the Lord of the Rings and Baldur's Gate MtG sets?

Those were all Cocks

...must...resist...inner adolescent...

 

[MNblockhead]

No, we don't, if you catch my drift.

Yeah, the thing is with many posters who I find tiresome or annoying in some threads and some topics, I really like my conversations with them in other threads on other topics. I mean, I'm not even playing D&D these days. And vehement anti-WotC folk can be a great source of information and conversation on games other than D&D.

But I'm thinking of running a D&D campaign under the Golden Dragon Anniversary Edition rules at the end of this year or early next year, so I'm still reading the D&D threads. It would be nice to have an "ignore these users in this thread" feature rather than across the entire forum.

 

[SteveC]

Yeah, the thing is with many posters who I find tiresome or annoying in some threads and some topics, I really like my conversations with them in other threads on other topics. I mean, I'm not even playing D&D these days. And vehement anti-WotC folk can be a great source of information and conversation on games other than D&D.

It's interesting that you post this, since I think all of the ignores I've made came out of the OGL fiasco. As someone not happy with WotC, that doesn't mean I'm not a fan of D&D (I'm actually playing right as I type this). There's a huge difference between the culture of WotC, the leadership, and D&D itself. In all of this, I find that when I start to get angry I end up giving the poor Mods of Enworld a break.

 

[FrogReaver]

Someone mentioned 250+ Beyond developers.

That costs a ton and if that cost was directly booked against d&d earnings it wouldn’t be hard for that to put them in the red. It might not be the official way they do financial statements due to organization structure but I’d bet internally they have that view.

 

[kronovan]

I for one are not sad Willams is gone. Instead of speculating on why she left with such short notice? Why there's no successor in sight? Is this normal CEO departure practice? Is the sky about to fall in on WotC? Etc. I prefer to instead ponder this "Williams worked for Microsoft on the Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team". I mean what the hell is that? To me it reads like an eco preserve where they train gifted cetaceans and primates to play video games, with the hope they'll become commercially viable members of an eSports team.

I know someone here more versed in the workings of corporate gaming will come along and enlighten me. But I prefer to remain ignorant, if not silly, and to ponder that specific element of this news story. If only because somehow, some day, at some time, I just know it'll aid me in my homebrewing efforts. Forgive me mods, but I don't see my comments here as a derail, but as a sidetrack that runs straight throught some strange machination of corporate America.

 

[LesserThan]

Someone mentioned 250+ Beyond developers.

That costs a ton and if that cost was directly booked against d&d earnings it wouldn’t be hard for that to put them in the red. It might not be the official way they do financial statements due to organization structure but I’d bet internally they have that view.

Most companies use creative accounting. As long as they pay taxes, they don't get Caponed for it.

Pinkertons coming affer Hasbro for tax evasion... karma?