Hasbro appoints Dan Ayoub president of Wizards of the Coast, succeeding John Hight

Hasbro names Dan Ayoub president of Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games. The role takes effect November 2, 2026. Ayoub succeeds John Hight, who stepped down September 1, 2026. He is the first internal candidate ever promoted to this presidency.

Internal promotion follows a search of dozens of candidates
Hasbro's search for Hight's successor spanned internal and external candidates.
Ayoub joined Wizards of the Coast in 2022 to lead its digital studios.
He then served as SVP of Digital Games and later SVP of Dungeons & Dragons.
"His promotion reflects one of my top priorities: developing our people." - Chris Cocks, CEO, Hasbro

Ayoub's background sits in digital production, not tabletop publishing
Ayoub spent 11 years at Microsoft, including as studio head at 343 Industries.
His Halo credits include Halo 4, Halo Wars 2 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
He later served as GM of Certain Affinity's Toronto studio.
His appointment follows 25 years of industry experience in console and digital games.

New role bridges tabletop IP and Hasbro's digital game slate
Ayoub will oversee Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and Duel Masters.
He also takes charge of Archetype Entertainment's Exodus and Invoke Studios' Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons.
Hight remained in an advisory role until Ayoub's appointment was finalized.
"We'll put fans first... And set an ambitious course for growth across tabletop and digital." - Dan Ayoub, incoming President, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Digital Games
What this means
For Publishers & Developers: Pitch licensed digital adaptations of the tabletop IP through the existing external-partner pipeline.
For Investors & VC: Lower the leadership-transition risk discount on the division's in-development digital slate.
For Service Vendors: Target the division's external partner studios with co-dev and live-ops capacity offers.