Industry

Mattel nearly doubles its profits (Toy Story 3) from last year’s 2nd quarter, yet they still fall below estimates. (source) Profits $51.6 million, revenues $1.02 billion.

Hasbro’s profits climbed to $43.6 million from $39.3 million in last year’s 2nd quarter. Revenues down ($737.8 million), but costs were down further. (source) Update: Games and puzzles up 22%, on sales of Magic: the Gathering, Monopoly, Operation, and The Game of Life. (source)

Meanwhile, video games are down again. Hardware slightly up, but overall the industry is down 6% from last year. (source) This may be because, while people mostly play casual games, they also mostly don’t pay for them. (source)

Hobbygames is rumored to be in administration, but denies it.

Pimping

Tim Harford writes a very long article in the Financial Times about the modern board game industry. (source)

The UAE National pimps Magic the Gathering in Dubai. (source) More info here. Dubai authorities and society still looks askance at Magic players, as I wrote in my last article two years ago.

The Minneapolis / St Paul Business Journal pimps Christian Petersen and Fantasy Flight Games. (source)