By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The entertainment and play company Hasbro has appointed new leadership for its critical Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming division.
The role was left vacant with the death of Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner late last year, after a lengthy battle with cancer. That resulted in former Wizards of the Coast president and COO Chris Cocks being named as CEO of Hasbro. That left the top chair open at Wizards of the Coast, which for the past few years has been Hasbro’s highest performing division.
But Hasbro has now named some new chief wizards to guide this critical business segment.
Microsoft gaming guru Cynthia Williams has been named President of Wizards of the Coast, effectively making her the new Chief Wizard, while Tim Fields takes on the role of SVP and General Manager of Digital Gaming. Both appointments take effect on Feb. 21.
Williams comes to the Hasbro family from Microsoft, where she most recently served as General Manager and Vice President, Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team, and most notably drove the expansion of Xbox Gaming and the acceleration of game-creator growth. Prior to joining Microsoft, Williams spent more than a decade at Amazon, where she led the global growth of their e-commerce direct-to-consumer business Fulfillment by Amazon.
By contrast, Fields comes to the digital gaming position at Hasbro with a deep well of experience in game development. He joins Hasbro from Kabam Games, one of the most successful mobile gaming studios in North America, where he served as CEO for the past five years.
Under his leadership, Kabam developed and operated numerous AAA games, including Marvel Contest of Champions, Disney Mirrorverse, Fast and Furious and Transformers: Forged to Fight. A 26-year veteran of the video game industry, Fields has held a range of leadership positions at major publishers, including Capcom, Microsoft and Electronic Arts.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Cynthia and Tim to the Hasbro family,” said Cocks, who currently remains president at Wizards of the Coast until the transition later this month. “They join at an exciting and dynamic time, and Wizards of the Coast – as well as all of Hasbro – will greatly benefit from their skills and experiences.”
Cocks also says the two new faces at Hasbro bring diverse but complementary skills to their key positions in the company.
“Cynthia brings a deep understanding of technology and e-commerce, along with cloud and console-based gaming,” Cocks explained. “She has a proven track record, across both Microsoft and Amazon, of scaling businesses to drive profitable growth. Her experience is highly complementary to Tim’s, who brings to Wizards unmatched production experience and a demonstrated ability to accelerate the growth of brands in mobile gaming.”
Williams has both the challenge and the opportunity of heading what has been Hasbro’s fastest growing division. As the head of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming, Ms. Williams will lead the strategy for two of the biggest names in gaming, MAGIC: THE GATHERING and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, while driving continued global growth for the division and leading new fan and story-led tabletop and digital experiences.
She is tasked with building and expanding on the outstanding foundation laid by Cocks, under whose leadership Wizards of the Coast doubled its revenue from 2018 to 2021. But Williams says she is looking forward to the challenge.
“Joining the team whose passion and imagination created such iconic games as MAGIC: THE GATHERING and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a dream come true,” Williams said. “With best-in-class developers, designers and producers, the opportunities at Wizards of the Coast for creative storytelling and innovative game play are limitless.”
For Fields, joining the Wizards of the Coast division is a dream come true, as he’s a lifelong fan of the franchise.
“As a lifelong gamer who has been playing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and MAGIC: THE GATHERING since I was a child, I am thrilled to be joining the Wizards and Hasbro family to develop the next generation of AAA digital games,” Fields said. “Working alongside such a talented team and under Cynthia’s leadership, I look forward to bringing the love of these brands to millions more players around the world.”
As Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Gaming, Fields will report to Williams and will be responsible for all digital gaming, including internal and external development of Wizards’ growing portfolio of story-led projects.