Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy Universes Beyond expansion has set new benchmarks for the popular trading card game, becoming its fastest-selling expansion in history. According to Hasbro’s Q2 earnings call, the Final Fantasy set generated an unprecedented $200 million in revenue in just one day. This figure stands in stark contrast to Magic’s Lord of the Rings set, which took six months to achieve the same revenue milestone.
The remarkable success of the Final Fantasy expansion significantly contributed to a 23% year-over-year growth in Magic: The Gathering’s revenue. Hasbro CEO Chris Cox highlighted the set’s ability to attract new players, stating that it brought more new players into stores over two weeks than any other set had in 12 weeks. The demand for the Final Fantasy set was so high that Hasbro increased production runs four times prior to its release, yet still “left demand on the table,” indicating that they “couldn’t produce enough.”
Cox elaborated on the comparison between the two major Universes Beyond expansions, emphasizing the rapid revenue generation of Final Fantasy. He noted, “Lord of the Rings took six months to deliver $200,000,000 of revenue. Final Fantasy took one day.” Despite the initial supply challenges, Hasbro anticipates a “nice long tail of backlist for the product,” similar to the continued sales of the Lord of the Rings product years after its initial release. This sustained demand is expected to power Hasbro’s backlist sales, which have already surpassed previous annual records within the first five and a half months of the year.
The success of the Final Fantasy expansion is attributed to Hasbro’s strategy of identifying strong intellectual properties (IPs) that resonate with Magic’s existing fanbase or attract new audiences. Cox described Lord of the Rings as the “granddaddy of fantasy” with its established presence in books, movies, animation, and games. He considers Final Fantasy to be “almost as strong as Lord of the Rings in terms of IP strength, if not stronger in some regions,” citing its stronger cross-regional appeal and deeper roots within the gaming community. This inherent connection to gaming likely led to a more significant overlap in fan bases compared to Lord of the Rings.
Looking ahead, Cox expressed confidence in future collaborations and first-party sets, anticipating them to achieve similar levels of success in terms of player engagement, community size, and adjacency. This positive outlook is further supported by recent and upcoming Universes Beyond releases, including a Sonic: The Hedgehog Secret Lair crossover, and confirmed Spider-Man and Avatar: The Last Airbender themed sets slated for September and November, respectively. Given the overwhelming success of the Final Fantasy expansion, Hasbro plans to keep the Final Fantasy cards stocked for an extended period, ensuring availability for those who have yet to acquire them.
