AI is everywhere. In 2026, it’s nearly impossible to go a whole day without interacting with AI in some way. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks sat down with the editor-in-chief of The Verge, Nilay Patel, on his Decoder Podcast for a lengthy discussion about the use of AI in Hasbro’s brands.
Cocks, an avid D&D player, uses AI to create campaigns as Dungeon Master for three or four groups. He claimed, “There is so much AI-based animation, images, text, sound effects, and voice cloning on my PC, it would floor you.” His personal use aside, that doesn’t mean he’s got any immediate plans for it being used for creative purposes at Wizards of the Coast.
One way that Hasbro is using AI is in tools designed to negotiate brand deals faster than ever. He gave an example of how halfway through watching K-Pop Demon Hunters on Netflix, he was texting Hasbro’s head of toys, Tim Kilpin, and the use of AI gave them an edge in presenting Netflix with a toy pitch just days later.
He defended the use of AI in their toy brands saying that even with the use of AI, “For things like toys where we’re basing it on existing IP, or like a long legacy of ideas, we are able to use it and use it pretty effectively. And in that concept phase, especially when you’re figuring out different ideas for toys and clever derivatives of play patterns, it’s pretty magical.”
The real question is when can we expect AI to become the norm for creating Magic: The Gathering? To that end, Cocks says that there are currently no plans for AI. The overwhelming majority of Magic, D&D, and video game players aren’t interested in AI being anywhere near it. He said, “There are some brands that the audience, the creators, just don’t want it, so we don’t even have it in our pipelines for our video games or for Magic: The Gathering, or D&D.”
Both D&D and Magic have strict guidelines in place to limit the use of generative AI like ChatGPT and Gemini after controversies involving both brands saw their fanbases firmly reject its use. A Fifth Edition sourcebook for D&D, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants and marketing materials for Magic’s Ravnica Remastered both used generative AI. In D&D’s case, the fallout was so bad that the book had to be reprinted with replacement art.
AI is being used in Magic on the business end, with tools giving Hasbro the kind of insight into data that normally takes a long time to procure through in-depth market research. According to Cocks, the use of AI has the potential to change the workforce in terms of how we “employ people and how we deploy people.” He also claimed that it will “affect stuff that we’ve already outsourced.”
However, an important note is that Cocks still talked about AI as an inevitability. He said, “I think a lot of gamers don’t like AI in games today, but I think eventually, someone’s going to figure out how to use AI in a way that’s high quality and is fun and makes games better. So I also think you have to think through that.” He tempered that by saying that even within AI, the creative process starts and ends with human input — “It’s really a human that’s kind of making the decisions, and a human that’s inspiring the good ideas, and a human that’s selecting them and then taking them to the next level.”
You can watch Chris Cocks’ full interview on Decoder with Nilay Patel in the video below:
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