Magic: The Gathering is due to expand its position in pop culture with even more crossover and collaborative products.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Wizards of the Coast parent company Hasbro will make a series of announcements later today during a call with investors, including that both The Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40,000 will be coming to the long-running card game. The former of these, which obviously needs no introduction, will receive its own full-sized expansion while Games Workshop’s tabletop miniatures game will either be getting the same treatment or a smaller-scale tie-in, à la Secret Lair.
The reveal of these new initiatives will coincide with Hasbro’s decision to have Wizards of the Coast become a standalone division, likely in a move intended to promote further growth. The company generated over $800 million in 2020 from Magic products as well as the Dungeons & Dragons brand, after all, an incredibly impressive figure, considering the last 12 months have been plagued with issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In terms of release dates and availability for Magic: The Gathering‘s foray into Middle-earth and the bleak future of 40K, fans of both franchises can likely expect to learn more later today, but suffice it to say, all of their respective characters will be present and accounted for. And if the former is indeed intended to be a major expansion, it’ll be interesting to see whether Wizards makes it Standard-legal or a promotional product in the same vein as its long-running Unsets.
We’ll be sure to keep you abreast of all the developments as and when they come, but in the meantime, feel free to let us know what you make of this surprise news in the usual place down below!