Fallout is ‘probably the best-performing Commander set ever,’ says Hasbro CEO

polygon.com:

Magic: The Gathering’s recent set of Fallout-themed cards is the franchise’s “best-performing Commander set ever” said Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks. The announcement, made Wednesday during an earnings call with investors, brings attention to the potential of the trading card games’ ambitious Universes Beyond initiative. But it also highlights the risks of working with IP licensed from other companies.

Following successful experiments with The Walking Dead and Godzilla themed cards for Magic: The Gathering, the Universes Beyond initiative was formally launched in February 2021. The first batch of crossover cards included franchises like Warhammer 40,000 and Doctor Who. While all of those sets sold well, it’s The Lord of the Rings set that turned heads in the C-suite. It generated more than $200 million in revenue in less than six months, which is more than double the benchmark set by other historically high-performing sets, according to Hasbro.

Now the Rhode Island-based company wants to produce two similarly-sized sets each year. That means incurring some hefty expenses to license the best IP.

The Fallout cards, released in May, were well-timed to benefit from the launch of the Fallout streaming television show on Amazon. But Cocks was quick to note that this wasn’t a Lord of the Rings-sized win for Hasbro.

“I would say Fallout has been a great set,” Cocks said. “It’s probably our best-performing Commander set ever, whether it’s a Universes Beyond set or not. However, Commander sets tend to be quite a bit smaller than our overall premiere sets, so you have weight that accordingly.”

The Commander format generates far less revenue for Hasbro than its “premiere” sets — that is, the larger multi-format sets designed for multiple communities within its playerbase. Weighed against the cost of licensing Fallout from its owners at Bethesda, Fallout likely generated less revenue for the company compared to The Lord of the Rings.

The next Universes Beyond release scheduled for