A few days ago, it was reported that Hasbro, the popular toy company who made the G.I.JOE figures that was a quintessential part of many of our childhoods, decided to cancel a Dungeons & Dragons game that was being developed by Stig Asmussen’s Giant Skull studio. And in a recent interview with The Game Business, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks has discussed in detail their ongoing approach for developing videogames and why they chose to create the more traditional flavor of self-contained experiences rather than chasing the trends of live-service and mobile games that many other companies have been doing in the past few years.
And in the interview, the CEO stated that the while many other companies can invest $100 million or more to develop live-service games, the actual likelihood of return is much less than creating a more traditional title:
“The cost to make those games has gone up quite a bit since 2018 and 2019,” he admits. “That’s something we’ll be thinking about in the next round of games. How do we diversify where our studio locations are? Right now, they’re pretty North America-based, particularly US-based. How do we use great markets like Montreal? We build a lot of RPGs and action-adventure games, and certainly there’s awesome talent in Eastern Europe, so how do we tap into that market? And then how do we use partners? We announced a joint venture with Saber Interactive for a to-be-announced game. We’ll lean into all of the above as we evolve the model.”
He also advocated that a self-contained title that provides a memorable experience will always have value in the industry which is completely true and in the spirit of all great videogames ever made.
“I think there’s always going to be demand for good games that deliver a nice 40 to 50-hours worth of content set at a fair price.”
The CEO also talked a bit about their first title Exodus, which is a brand new sci-fi RPG made by some of the developers from the venerable Mass Effect trilogy:
“And yes, it’s a new IP, but it’s not unfamiliar ground to us. Exodus is effectively D&D in space. We’re familiar with role-playing games, and familiar with how to make good ones. It’s a genre we understand.
“And lastly, in 2018 this was true, but I think it’s even more true in 2026… it’s a space that hasn’t had a good game in a long time. It’s been a while since Mass Effect 2 and 3. I think there’s a big need in the marketplace for that, and we’re certainly seeing that with the fan response. So, while it’s kind of a bold and maybe a risky bet, my hope is that it’ll be a good one. I get to play the game now and then, and I’m pretty pleased with how it’s coming together. Time will tell if it’s a good financial bet.”
