Hasbro has named Cynthia Williams as the new head of Wizards of the Coast, with Tim Fields named as a new Vice President and General Manager for the subsidiary’s Digital Gaming division. Williams comes from Microsoft, where she served as the General Manager and Vice President of the Gaming Ecosystem Commercial Team and helped drive the expansion of Xbox Gaming. Williams also worked for Amazon as part of their e-commerce direct-to-consumer business. Meanwhile, Fields was previously the CEO of Kabam Games, the developer of Marvel Contest of Champions, Disney Mirrorverse, Fast and Furious, and Transformers: Forged to Fight. Fields previously worked for Capcom, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts in a variety of leadership positions. In a press release announcing the changes, Fields was also noted to be a Magic: The Gathering and D&D player.
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Williams will replace current Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks, who was recently named CEO of Hasbro after the death of previous CEO Brian Goldner. Cocks led Wizards to become a cornerstone of Hasbro’s business, with the division achieving record-breaking profits thanks to Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. Last year, Hasbro reorganized its company to give Wizards a larger portfolio, with the division tapped to expand its digital gaming division.
As head of Wizards, Williams will lead strategy for both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, both of which are expanding in different ways. While Magic continues to expand its player base with the digital Magic Arena app, Dungeons & Dragons is a focus of Hasbro’s eOne entertainment division, with a live-action movie out in 2023 and several TV shows in active development.
In a statement announcing the moves, Cocks spoke of the expertise both Williams and Fields brings to digital gaming. “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 said. “Cynthia brings a deep understanding of technology and e-commerce, along with cloud and console-based gaming. 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.”
