Dan Ayoub Named President of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games

Hasbro has appointed Dan Ayoub as the new president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games.

He will oversee the Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and Duel Masters franchises, as well as the company's digital games division.

"He understands what our games mean to the people who play them and what it takes to build great teams and experiences," Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said.

Ayoub replaces John Hight, who left the position in July after two years.

"I'm honored to lead Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games, and grateful to Chris and the leadership team for this opportunity," Ayoub said.

"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."

He added, "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 was selected after a three-month search that evaluated dozens of internal and external candidates, and is the first internal candidate promoted into the role, according to Hasbro.

He joined Wizards of the Coast in 2022, most recently serving as senior vice president of digital games and Dungeons & Dragons.

Prior to that, he spent 11 years at Microsoft as the studio head of Halo developer 343 Industries, and also served as vice president and general manager of co-development studio Certain Affinity.

His career spans 25 years in the video game industry, including producer roles at Ubisoft and EA.

In his new role, Ayoub will oversee two major video game projects in development: the sci-fi RPG Exodus from Archetype Entertainment and the third-person action-adventure Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons from Invoke Studios.

He takes over during a challenging period for Hasbro's digital games business.

The company recorded a $56 million non-cash impairment earlier this year from the cancellation of several games in development that were expected to release "in 2028 and beyond."

The appointment also follows the unionization of D&D and Magic: The Gathering developers, who claimed Wizards of the Coast was pushing "adoption of LLMs and generative AI."

The company did not voluntarily recognize the union efforts by its October 13 deadline.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks has previously indicated he views widespread generative AI use as an inevitable future, stating, "You can't ignore it, you can't stick your head in the sand."

Cocks had been serving as the interim president of Wizards of the Coast since John Hight stepped down in September.

Ayoub is set to begin his new position on Monday, November 2.