Hasbro and Lego (Ep. 22)

Hasbro and Lego (Ep. 22)

From Gamecraft by Mitch Lasky / Blake Robbins

May 7, 2025 · 45 min · Season 3 · Episode 6

About this episode

Mitch and Blake discuss the divergent paths of Hasbro and Lego in the games business, focusing on their licensing strategies and market challenges.

Mitch and Blake look at two of the largest toy companies in the world, Hasbro and Lego, and discuss their divergent but ultimately very successful forays into the games business as licensors of intellectual property. Your hosts discuss how both Hasbro and Lego tried to enter the games business directly as developers and publishers of digital games in the late 1990s, how they had very different experiences of success and failure, and how both decided to exit the business in the early 2000s only to return as licensors rather than publishers later in that decade. Mitch tells the story about why he went to Hasbro's private pre-Toy Fair meeting in Florida in the late 90s. They then explore the licensing stategies of both companies in depth. They discuss the transformative partnership between Lego and Traveller's Tales, and the complexities of using IP licensed by Lego for toy sets, like Star Wars , as the narrative universes for Lego's video games. They discuss the rise of Wizards of the Coast inside Hasbro after the 1998 acquisition (culminating in the accession of Chris Cox, head of WoTC, to the CEO position of Hasbro), resulting in two defining license deals: Baldur's Gate 3 to…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mitch Lasky, Blake Robbins

Topics covered

  • toy companies
  • licensing strategies
  • digital games
  • intellectual property
  • market competition
  • business success and failure

Keywords

  • Hasbro
  • Lego
  • licensing
  • digital games
  • Wizards of the Coast
  • Baldur's Gate 3
  • Monopoly Go
  • Minecraft
  • Roblox

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hasbro, Lego, Wizards of the Coast

Products: Baldur's Gate 3, Monopoly Go, Minecraft, Roblox

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