Hasbro says Magic: The Gathering's Fallout-themed Commander cards were 'probably our best-performing Commander set ever'
The multiverse has been good to Magic: The Gathering. Of its recent crossover sets the big winner was The Lord of the Rings, which earned over $200 million in under six months. As Polygon pointed out at the time, that's about twice as much as other popular Magic sets make.
Fallout has apparently been a solid earner as well, although it's not a full set like The Lord of the Rings was. Where the Middle-earth cards were designed to be playable in a variety of formats, and even made it to Magic: The Gathering Arena in digital form (which «Universes Beyond» crossovers typically don't), the Fallout set is purely for Commander—a format designed for groups of typically four players, who each have a deck of 100 cards with no doubles led by a single legendary creature acting as its leader.
Commander is currently Magic's most popular official format, so it's still significant when a Commander-only set does well. And Fallout has. During Hasbro's recent first quarter 2024 earnings call, CEO Chris Cox called it «a great set,» saying, «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 premier sets, so you have to weigh that accordingly.»
This was in response to a shareholder question that also asked for his thoughts on the long-term of Magic. Cox responded, «I would say our view on Magic is pretty healthy. Engagement has reached pre-pandemic levels, our stores are all healthy, Fallout's doing well, Outlaws of Thunder Junction—which is our first major release of Q2—it's early but it's off to a promising start.»
Outlaws of Thunder Junction is a western-themed set that wants you to do crimes. It takes place on a new world within Magic's existing setting, but next year there are two more Universes Beyond sets due, both with the potential to be big deals: Final Fantasy and Marvel.
«In terms of the long-term view on Universes Beyond,» Cox said, «man, I think Final
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