Baldur's Gate 3 and D&D license owner Wizards of the Coast finds its new president in a World of Warcraft veteran of 12 years
Jul. 19, 2024John Hight is in charge of another massive fantasy franchise
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World of Warcraftveteran John Hight is now taking over another behemoth fantasy franchise.
John Hight was once the vice president and executive producer on Blizzard’s mammoth MMO, leading everything from Mists of Pandora to the Shadowlands expansion. He then became the general manager for Warcraft as a whole, meaning he was also in charge of stuff like Hearthstone, the RTS Warcrafts, and Warcraft Rumble.
Hasbro has now confirmed that the MMO veteran has become the full-time president of subsidiary Wizards of the Coast (which handles everything Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering-shaped) and the company’s video game division (which mostly handles licenses that have led to Baldur’s Gate 3 and Neverwinter Nights, among other good stuff).
After Baldur’s Gate 3 became a smash sales success and critical darling, developer Larian Studiosannouncedthat it didn’t intend on returning to the D&D license at all for either a Baldur’s Gate 4 or an expansion, whichmade Hasbro approach “lots of partners"to start hammering away on an inevitable sequel. Larian’s lead writer is open to seeing another sequel made by a different team,as long as it isn’t made to just “hit our earnings next quarter,"- it’s assuring to see a video game veteran at the helm this time, then, instead of the usual toy manufacturing execs.
Hight’s last few months at the top of the Warcraft food chain led to a surprise60-player pirate battle royale, anarachnophobia modein preparation for the nasty spider folk coming in The War Within expansion, and more hints that the long, long running gamemight finally come to Xboxpost-industry-shaking-acquistion.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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