Saw this on ICV2:
"Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering volume has doubled since 2008, Hasbro Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti said at Hasbro’s annual Investor Day at its Pawtucket, Rhode Island headquarters on Wednesday, and shows no signs of slowing down. That growth has come in two ways: the player base has grown by over 80% during that period, and per player spending has grown by 16%."
Be advised, this is a large presentation from a corporation to its owners. Magic represents a handful of slides among many.
They are predicting further strong growth for Magic, along the lines of what has been seen from Zendikar forward. Interestingly they also view Magic as something they have re-imagined since 2007. They predict further growth between now and 2014 along the same lines as what they have seen since 2008 - ie they expect the game to double in revenue again.
Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering volume has doubled since 2008, Hasbro Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti said at Hasbro’s annual Investor Day at its Pawtucket, Rhode Island headquarters on Wednesday, and shows no signs of slowing down. That growth has come in two ways: the player base has grown by over 80% during that period, and per player spending has grown by 16%.
Frascotti also talked about the unique nature of the Magic consumer. The typical Magic player is a male high school or college student, although the full age range is 16 to 35. He’s a technology early adopter, and engages with the game in multiple ways: online and on console at home, in store, or at competitive events.
WotC has clearly woven the CCG and digital forms of the game closely together over recent years, and Frascotti talked about how that process has worked from Hasbro’s point of view. “For the more than 12 million players around the world, Magic is more than just a product and more than just a game, it’s a lifestyle,” he said. “The average tenure of the Magic consumer is over eight years. And the more engaged the Magic consumer becomes in brand the more value they are to us as a business, as we migrate them toward successively deeper levels of engagement with complementary analog and digital experiences.”
The comment in the last paragraph that the average tenure is 8 years somewhat calls unto question their claim that their marketing strategy is based around constancy pulling in new players because players dont play the game for long.
Eight years is a long time for someone to play a game. That, coupled with the claim that individual spending has gone up almost 20% calls into question the validity of the current changes, since, rather obviously, the previous sales model was working. Aaron Forsythe claims that the changes to the OP structure are designed to appeal to the greatest volume of players, but most people within WotC admit that casual players represent the gross majority of players. If the largest volume of players aren't playing tournaments and the bulk of money is made from them, why claim you're changing OP to benefit them?
They cut things to pay for the Pro Tour plane tickets and all those GPs. Doubling the number of GPs costs way more than one Pro Tour. That's something like 20 building rentals, the prize money, twice as many GP promo cards, more work for the people that manage the player rating system, judges, and anyone from Wizards they send down there. Once it really gets up and running, though, they can probably add more stuff in because GPs have entry fees. They have to actually make profits before they can spend more, though. These are huge changes and it'll probably take a couple years before we find out how well the new system really works. Lots of changes suck in the beginning, but they, ultimately, improve things.
Don't forget to note that they are counting the sales from the electronic side as well, not just paper.
Hasbro has seen an increase in their profits while slowly cutting things off. Why would they stop? They will keep doing this until the bleed it dry.
Maro and Aaron Forsythe have both said all of the changes were internal, not brought on by Hasbro, they claim to being mostly left alone in regards to operating practices.
The comment in the last paragraph that the average tenure is 8 years somewhat calls unto question their claim that their marketing strategy is based around constancy pulling in new players because players dont play the game for long.
I'll see if I can find the article this week that i read that pointed to that. I've read so much of the falliut of this i dont remember which article it was in.
Okay, WotC has some explaining to do. Cutting player rewards, Pro Tours, the Invitational, States, Pro Player's Club, etc. etc. etc. is ridiculous in light of this article. The cries Magic fleecing it's players are only going to grow as news of this leaks out.
But not so luck-based that there's no measure of skill. Plus it's inciting with all those cool artworks.
I'm really happy that the art direction for Magic steers very clear from WoW, with its over-the-top style. Particularly the walkers.
It makes sense that they're making more money, they've been making more promo products, and their new yearly-releases model has being running long enough to see the effects. 4 sets a year, with a few promo products, then all the tournaments. And the way each set has been designed since Ravnica...
Okay, WotC has some explaining to do. Cutting player rewards, Pro Tours, the Invitational, States, Pro Player's Club, etc. etc. etc. is ridiculous in light of this article. The cries Magic fleecing it's players are only going to grow as news of this leaks out.
Well you've misseds the part when they've admitted that they shouldn't have announced all these things without including how they are changing. MaRo had a bit of a Twitter rant letting everyone know that there are changes for the positive as well, and they have not been announced yet.
It's a cross between WOTC fumbling the delivery of the message and part people reading 2-3 lines and freaking out, spreading panic along the way.
Well you've misseds the part when they've admitted that they shouldn't have announced all these things without including how they are changing. MaRo had a bit of a Twitter rant letting everyone know that there are changes for the positive as well, and they have not been announced yet.
It's a cross between WOTC fumbling the delivery of the message and part people reading 2-3 lines and freaking out, spreading panic along the way.
The players freaking out have every right to be freaking out, though- as not knowing how future Pro benefits will work dramatically impacts how people need to schedule flights/hotels/etc.
I find it interesting that it says the avg span is 8 years for a customer. Considering how most people believe its the casual players that are the majority, I'm wondering how does the casual majority maintain interest for 8 years.
My playgroup has casual and competitve players, the competitive players are the ones still playing today, since we first started back in college, the majority of the people that got a deck to play when we were all at college have now dropped magic and moved on to other games.
When the video game industry refers to casual gamers, they think of people that play on the Wii, they will buy tons of different stuff, and have almost have 0 brand loyalty.
The only other game i see comparable is WoW, by all means wow would seem like a game for casual people to play, but when you look at the people that are still playing it, the resemble nothing like what casual gamer would do. They spend endless hours on it like what a hardcore gamer would.
If they said profits had doubled that would be understandable. However they said sales which are not the same thing. Idk I wish they could reintroduce the MPR program as that is the one thing I truly miss.
The players freaking out have every right to be freaking out, though- as not knowing how future Pro benefits will work dramatically impacts how people need to schedule flights/hotels/etc.
I agree... however I think that some people see the word FIRE and drop their buckets without seeing where the smoke is coming from first. While it's a logical reaction, it's also the case that in our situation there was more than likely going to be another anouncement of a new feature. I think they should have done it all at once, and my guess is that they are scrambling right now to whip something together and not have it sound rushed.
I find it interesting that it says the avg span is 8 years for a customer. Considering how most people believe its the casual players that are the majority, I'm wondering how does the casual majority maintain interest for 8 years.
Actually it's super easy. They buy product when they want, and keep a light tab on things like spoilers and "major" news like this. I have friends who haven't baught a pack since Ice Age that still play. I have friends that buy a box of each set yet never set foot into a shop to play. That's the thing with casual players... they are "untrackable" since many don't even have DCI numbers.
I find it interesting that it says the avg span is 8 years for a customer. Considering how most people believe its the casual players that are the majority, I'm wondering how does the casual majority maintain interest for 8 years.
Keep in mind that a number of players who are casual players now may have been competitive players for a couple of years prior, and are now just enjoying slinging their EDH/Commander decks around the kitchen table or doing cube drafts.
Anyways, it's great to see Magic doing so well, particularly in light of the troubled economy. I've been playing the game since Revised came out (I was fourteen at the time) and it's been a part of my life ever since, and I can't see my interest waning anytime soon. It's probably people like me who skew the average span of interest upwards.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Love. Forgive. Trust. Be willing to be broken that you may be remade.
I find it interesting that it says the avg span is 8 years for a customer. Considering how most people believe its the casual players that are the majority, I'm wondering how does the casual majority maintain interest for 8 years.
My playgroup has casual and competitve players, the competitive players are the ones still playing today, since we first started back in college, the majority of the people that got a deck to play when we were all at college have now dropped magic and moved on to other games.
I think you might be defining casual and competitive differently than Wizards does - could be wrong though. I was shocked to find out that me, a guy that played tier 1 decks at FNMs every week for 2 years, was in fact "casual." I thought I was competitive but I was being competitive in a casual setting. There is the obvious "kitchen table" and EDH casual, but all those people that show up to weekly events and don't dedicate resources to PTQs, Pro Tours, and big events like that are still "casual."
By itself, this information is of limited value. We don't know, for example, how much of this increase is from the past year — or even if sales went up at all in the last year.
"Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering volume has doubled since 2008, Hasbro Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti said at Hasbro’s annual Investor Day at its Pawtucket, Rhode Island headquarters on Wednesday, and shows no signs of slowing down. That growth has come in two ways: the player base has grown by over 80% during that period, and per player spending has grown by 16%."
You can see this and more in the rather large presentation on Hasbro's website here: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/HAS/1498515261x0x516677/574c4369-86c8-4dba-8f32-fde87a704a2e/HASBRO_Investor_Day_2011.pdf
Be advised, this is a large presentation from a corporation to its owners. Magic represents a handful of slides among many.
They are predicting further strong growth for Magic, along the lines of what has been seen from Zendikar forward. Interestingly they also view Magic as something they have re-imagined since 2007. They predict further growth between now and 2014 along the same lines as what they have seen since 2008 - ie they expect the game to double in revenue again.
Current signed cards count (31.12.16):
Artist alters: 828
Beta Project: 2574/2853
Grand Total signed cards: 42'091
All my stuff in a FB group
Me@WOTC
No doubt any skeptic will say that this is a presentation for would-be investors. It has to be positive.
Still, very good information to have.
http://icv2.com/articles/news/21471.html
Effing impressive. Go WotC =)
How do you think the sales have doubled?
Don't forget to note that they are counting the sales from the electronic side as well, not just paper.
Hasbro has seen an increase in their profits while slowly cutting things off. Why would they stop? They will keep doing this until the bleed it dry.
I like Turtles
Well, _I_ can't say for sure, but I'd speculate it's because the things they've been cutting the vast majority of the players don't give a damn about.
Eight years is a long time for someone to play a game. That, coupled with the claim that individual spending has gone up almost 20% calls into question the validity of the current changes, since, rather obviously, the previous sales model was working. Aaron Forsythe claims that the changes to the OP structure are designed to appeal to the greatest volume of players, but most people within WotC admit that casual players represent the gross majority of players. If the largest volume of players aren't playing tournaments and the bulk of money is made from them, why claim you're changing OP to benefit them?
MY CUBE!
EDH Decks
Tomorrow, The Pitcher's Name
They cut things to pay for the Pro Tour plane tickets and all those GPs. Doubling the number of GPs costs way more than one Pro Tour. That's something like 20 building rentals, the prize money, twice as many GP promo cards, more work for the people that manage the player rating system, judges, and anyone from Wizards they send down there. Once it really gets up and running, though, they can probably add more stuff in because GPs have entry fees. They have to actually make profits before they can spend more, though. These are huge changes and it'll probably take a couple years before we find out how well the new system really works. Lots of changes suck in the beginning, but they, ultimately, improve things.
Maro and Aaron Forsythe have both said all of the changes were internal, not brought on by Hasbro, they claim to being mostly left alone in regards to operating practices.
MY CUBE!
EDH Decks
Tomorrow, The Pitcher's Name
Do you have something to back up this statement?
I'll see if I can find the article this week that i read that pointed to that. I've read so much of the falliut of this i dont remember which article it was in.
MY CUBE!
EDH Decks
Tomorrow, The Pitcher's Name
But not so luck-based that there's no measure of skill. Plus it's inciting with all those cool artworks.
I'm really happy that the art direction for Magic steers very clear from WoW, with its over-the-top style. Particularly the walkers.
It makes sense that they're making more money, they've been making more promo products, and their new yearly-releases model has being running long enough to see the effects. 4 sets a year, with a few promo products, then all the tournaments. And the way each set has been designed since Ravnica...
Well you've misseds the part when they've admitted that they shouldn't have announced all these things without including how they are changing. MaRo had a bit of a Twitter rant letting everyone know that there are changes for the positive as well, and they have not been announced yet.
It's a cross between WOTC fumbling the delivery of the message and part people reading 2-3 lines and freaking out, spreading panic along the way.
The players freaking out have every right to be freaking out, though- as not knowing how future Pro benefits will work dramatically impacts how people need to schedule flights/hotels/etc.
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)
My playgroup has casual and competitve players, the competitive players are the ones still playing today, since we first started back in college, the majority of the people that got a deck to play when we were all at college have now dropped magic and moved on to other games.
When the video game industry refers to casual gamers, they think of people that play on the Wii, they will buy tons of different stuff, and have almost have 0 brand loyalty.
The only other game i see comparable is WoW, by all means wow would seem like a game for casual people to play, but when you look at the people that are still playing it, the resemble nothing like what casual gamer would do. They spend endless hours on it like what a hardcore gamer would.
If they said profits had doubled that would be understandable. However they said sales which are not the same thing. Idk I wish they could reintroduce the MPR program as that is the one thing I truly miss.
It's about as luck based as poker as you sometimes see bad breaks, but most of the time the actual good players will prevail.
I agree... however I think that some people see the word FIRE and drop their buckets without seeing where the smoke is coming from first. While it's a logical reaction, it's also the case that in our situation there was more than likely going to be another anouncement of a new feature. I think they should have done it all at once, and my guess is that they are scrambling right now to whip something together and not have it sound rushed.
Actually it's super easy. They buy product when they want, and keep a light tab on things like spoilers and "major" news like this. I have friends who haven't baught a pack since Ice Age that still play. I have friends that buy a box of each set yet never set foot into a shop to play. That's the thing with casual players... they are "untrackable" since many don't even have DCI numbers.
Keep in mind that a number of players who are casual players now may have been competitive players for a couple of years prior, and are now just enjoying slinging their EDH/Commander decks around the kitchen table or doing cube drafts.
Anyways, it's great to see Magic doing so well, particularly in light of the troubled economy. I've been playing the game since Revised came out (I was fourteen at the time) and it's been a part of my life ever since, and I can't see my interest waning anytime soon. It's probably people like me who skew the average span of interest upwards.
I think you might be defining casual and competitive differently than Wizards does - could be wrong though. I was shocked to find out that me, a guy that played tier 1 decks at FNMs every week for 2 years, was in fact "casual." I thought I was competitive but I was being competitive in a casual setting. There is the obvious "kitchen table" and EDH casual, but all those people that show up to weekly events and don't dedicate resources to PTQs, Pro Tours, and big events like that are still "casual."
So, pretty much 95% of MTGS.
WUBRGPauper Battle BoxWUBRG ... and why I am not a fan of Wayne Reynolds' Illustrations.
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)