Hasbro taps Dan Ayoub to lead Wizards of the Coast

Hasbro has named Dan Ayoub president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games, effective Monday — the third person to hold the role in under five years, according to a company press release.

Ayoub joined Wizards of the Coast in 2022 and most recently served as senior vice president of Dungeons & Dragons. He won the job after an internal and external search. He is the first internal candidate promoted to the role.

His predecessor, John Hight, led the division for two years before stepping into an advisory role on Sept. 1, which he announced on his LinkedIn page. Cynthia Williams held the post for two years before him and resigned.

Who is the new president?

Ayoub is taking charge of games he has played for decades. He has played Dungeons & Dragons with the same group of friends since he was 10 years old, and picked up Magic: The Gathering the year it launched, according to Hasbro.

He now heads Magic: The Gathering, D&D, Duel Masters and Hasbro Digital Games, including Exodus and Warlock.

"Magic and D&D have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, and the teams behind them are among the best in the world," Ayoub said in a statement. "We'll put fans first, respect the artists and creators who make these worlds come alive, and set an ambitious course for growth across tabletop and digital."

Ayoub brings 25 years of video game experience to the role. At Microsoft, he worked as an executive producer and studio head at 343 Industries, the studio behind Halo.

In short: Hasbro has chosen a lifelong fan and industry veteran to run its fastest-growing division.

Why the timing matters

The leadership change comes as Wizards of the Coast powers Hasbro's financial performance. Hasbro's net revenues rose 15% year over year to $1.6 billion in its third quarter, driven largely by the Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment. That segment's revenue grew 28%, led by Magic: The Gathering, which posted $600 million in quarterly revenue for the first time.

The appointment also follows Hasbro's recent announcement of Wizards of the Coast Studios in Montréal. The studio will develop content for Dungeons & Dragons and support the company's digital games portfolio.

"This studio will grow to be the largest concentration of video game talent at Hasbro, built on one of the world's deepest game development ecosystems," Ayoub said earlier in October, when he still served as head of D&D and Wizards of the Coast Canada.

The Montréal bet signals where Ayoub intends to take the business: deeper into digital.

What happens to John Hight?

Hight is not leaving the industry. "I'm not disappearing, and I'm definitely not retiring," he wrote on LinkedIn. "I'm simply making room for a few things I've wanted to pursue for a long time: creative projects, teaching, and more time to play games, think about games, and maybe even make a few."

His advisory role gives Hasbro continuity while Ayoub, an architect of the Montréal expansion, takes operational control. With Magic crossing the $600 million quarterly mark and a new studio scaling up, Ayoub inherits a division at peak momentum — and the pressure to keep it there.