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."

 

[billd91]

Hmm 11 days notice, not even two weeks. And no successor ready.

It's 2 full weeks of business days. That seems as 2-weekish as is customary.

 

[mamba]

It's 2 full weeks of business days. That seems as 2-weekish as is customary.

not customary at her level…

 

[Faolyn]

But thickness of paper? That isn't an indicator of anything other than thicker paper.

It makes the books look a lot thicker they are without actually producing more useful material. This was particularly noticeable in Spelljammer, which also had extra covers to pad and the slip case out the size. As @SlyFlourish put it, we're paying 20% more for 50% less, and this almost certainly how it's going to be in future products.

 

[Parmandur]

The thicker paper was unique to the boxed sets (which I have big problems with -- so much cardboard!!). They had to use big thick paper or the books would look like Babar. Those thick pages aren't in their other normal hardcover books.

The thicker paper is definitely an intentional choice, they even touted it in marketing material.

 

[Parmandur]

not customary at her level…

Not unheard of, either, though.

 

[bedir than]

It's 2 full weeks of business days. That seems as 2-weekish as is customary.

Two weeks for the public statement which doesn't necessarily reflect long discussions she had with her boss and peers.

 

[Dire Bare]

The thicker paper is definitely an intentional choice, they even touted it in marketing material.

Intentional? Of course! I doubt it was an accident.

But what was the intent? To mask the lighter content, to try a heavier stock for aesthetic appeal, or perhaps both?

There is no doubt the Spelljammer boxed set was light on content and overly packaged. Gods, I hate the format for that release (and a bit less so for Planescape). I can totally see WotC choosing the heavier paper to try and make the books physically feel larger, but . . .

Putting the font size, layout, format, and paper thickness aside . . . nothing masked how light that release was in content, it was painfully obvious.

I suspect the formatting choices were at least partially intended to mask that (if spectacularly ineffective at doing so), but were also perhaps intended to make the books easier to read and improve the "paper feel". More than one thing can be true at the same time.

 

[mamba]

Two weeks for the public statement which doesn't necessarily reflect long discussions she had with her boss and peers.

there were no discussions beforehand, as the article says “She informed Hasbro of her plans on April 15” and they just started looking for a successor

 

[Faolyn]

Putting the font size, layout, format, and paper thickness aside . . . nothing masked how light that release was in content, it was painfully obvious.

What's really sad is there was a lot of old Spelljammer material they could have used. They could have updated the factions and religions, referenced Inhuman Wars in some manner (if only in the sense of there being living weapons and giant traps left behind by people who fought in it), or had a planet/system generator. Maybe some of that was in the adventure; I dunno. But it could have been in the main book.

 

[bedir than]

there were no discussions beforehand, as the article says “She informed Hasbro of her plans on April 15” and they just started looking for a successor

At the C level there is a formal process yes.
That doesn't mean that zero of her peers and leadership knew of her thoughts and or intentions.
The idea that we have 100% of the knowledge of the situation doesn't hold up to any scrutiny, because no one has published any sort of interview with Williams, her peers or her leaders.