“Magic: The Gathering” is one of the most popular games in the world. With over 40 million players and a card library that has surpassed 23,000, “Magic” is loved by fans everywhere. I started really playing “Magic” in the summer of 2022, when I was gifted a preconstructed Commander deck by a friend. Since then, my love for the game has grown exponentially, and I’m now the proud owner of six Commander decks and a boatload of bulk cards that I obsess over.

But, “Magic” recently experienced a pretty scary moment, when Bank of America downgraded Hasbro’s (who owns “Magic: the Gathering”) stock, claiming that the company is “killing its golden goose,” according to Business Insider. Bank of America claims that Hasbro is “overproducing ‘Magic’ cards” and demolishing the long-term value of the game, but I don’t think this could be further from the truth.

Nineteen sets have been released since I began playing (For those who don’t know, a set is a new block of cards that gets released to the public). These have included a set based on “Warhammer,” a set with beautiful art based on Japanese culture and so many more creative releases that have contributed so much to the game. All of these sets are unique, and they all appeal to different players. Because “Magic” is such a massive game, players can find joy in different segments of its history. By releasing such a high number of new cards, Hasbro is doing exactly what a corporation should do: grow its consumer base. A Hasbro representative defended the company’s actions, mentioning that “at the end of the day it’s about growing our player base.”

I’m thrilled that Hasbro has released so many new cards over the past year, and I’m thrilled that each of these new cards give me new “Magic” experiences. But this doesn’t mean that Hasbro’s decisions over the past year have been without flaw. 

“Magic’s” 30th anniversary recently passed, and Hasbro decided to release a special celebration set to commemorate the occasion. This seemed like it could be cool! Hasbro decided to reprint some of the most powerful and well-known cards from “Magic” history. This would have been a really cool move by Hasbro, were it not for the dealbreaker: the price tag. A box of four packs, each of which contains 15 cards, was selling for $1,000. No, that’s not a typo: 60 cards for $1,000. Non-anniversary packs usually sell for about $5, and they also contain 15 cards. And, worst of all, these packs had to be bought directly from Hasbro instead of being sold through local game stores to support them. Hasbro clearly hoped to evoke nostalgia with the release of these anniversary-edition cards, and hoped that fans would be willing to take out a second mortgage to buy them.

This release was so bad that “Magic’s” creator, Richard Garfield, publicly berated Hasbro for it. He said “this is a game first, and if you treat it as a collectible first, then you’re not doing your players any favors,” in reference to the exorbitant price of these packs. If you’re not interested in card games, it’s hard to see the problem here: it’s just a company celebrating a significant anniversary for their intellectual property, right? Wrong! Let’s look at what “Yu-Gi-Oh!’s” parent company Konami did for their 30th anniversary: they released old, sought-after cards at a rate of $4.49-for-15 through local game stores. This is how you celebrate a game’s anniversary: you reward the fan base who got you there. Instead of trying to pad their bottom line by charging four figures for a few pieces of cardboard, Konami thanked “Yu-Gi-Oh!” aficionados with desirable cards at a great price.

Hasbro is far from killing “Magic.” The game is more popular than ever, with a growing fan base and card library, but Hasbro needs to make smarter decisions to stay afloat. Releasing 19 sets in a year is fantastic, as each of those opens up new experiences for the player base. But, releasing a prohibitively expensive cash grab framed as a “celebration of ‘Magic’s’ history” is not the right way to win over players. I want to believe that Hasbro knows what they’re doing, and I hope that they have the presence of mind to keep releasing exciting new cards without another 30th anniversary-style disaster.