Across November 12 and 13, Wizards Play Network retailers around the world had the opportunity to attend the first virtual WPN Retailer Summit. There, we shared business insights and expressed our appreciation for all our retail partners across the Wizards Play Network, as you remain a pillar of the Magic community and beyond.

We're beyond grateful to all the retailers who could attend. If you couldn't make it, here's what you missed—we've wrapped it up into key takeaways for you.

Wizards of the Coast President John Hight kicked us off with his passion and commitment to the LGS community.

Sharing his love for the local game store community, Wizards of the Coast President John Hight welcomed retailers to the summit. His segment truly encapsulates how valuable the Wizards Play Network's role is in growing a vibrant gaming community.

Mark Rosewater walked through building Foundations to support you in bringing new fans to Magic: The Gathering.

Mark Rosewater is the head designer on Magic: The Gathering and jumps right into an exciting segment all about how the team has been developing new ways to introduce new players to Magic. He—and the rest of the team—are committed to ensuring that the retailers have the best tools possible to teach new players in a way that supports different ways of learning and experiencing the game.

Rosewater breaks down the path to becoming a Magic player through Foundations:

• Start with the Beginner Box. Inside, there are half-sized decks, teaching inserts, and play aids. Players using this product will begin with a guided tutorial, and from there, they can experiment by mixing any of the two half-decks together and expanding on their knowledge, discovering what style of play they like best.

From there, there are three pathways a player might choose:

1. Foundations Jumpstart (J25): A mix-and-match Magic with 46 different themes that is ideal for a pickup and play option.
2. Foundations Starter Collection: An exploratory product with 350+ cards showcasing everything that makes Magic so incredible. Players can experiment and build many different types of decks from this collection.
3. Foundations Play Boosters: Play Boosters have all the trimmings your experienced Magic players have come to know and love—this product is great for transitioning new players from Foundations to other set releases.

When teaching new players about Magic, the goal is to make the experience so fun that a player can hardly wait to jump into their next game. We hope Foundations is an excellent tool that you can use in your stores for years to come as you introduce new players to the Gathering.

We looked at the Magic: The Gathering 2025 release schedule.

Next, Mark Rosewater dove headfirst into 2025, walking through the set releases coming your way:

• Innistrad Remastered
• Aetherdrift
• Tarkir: Dragonstorm
• Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY
• Edge of Eternities
• Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel's Spider-Man
• To-be-announced Universes Beyond set

In this segment, Rosewater reinforced how Universes Beyond continues to be an incredible way to onboard players who are curious about Magic through a universe and characters they already know and love.

As always, you can review available information on upcoming sets by visiting our product pages.

Billy Jensen provided insights into the roadmap of Play.

Starting off with his own anecdote about his time in game stores growing up, Director of Play Programs Billy Jensen emphasizes how getting more players playing more Magic in stores across the WPN is critical for him and his team—here's how he and the team plan to support that goal:

• Supporting Magic Academy through future Magic releases
• Continuing to innovate with the Magic Presents program
• Ensuring every Universes Beyond set has its own Magic Presents play event moving forward
• Continuing efforts around bolstering Standard events in your Local Game Store community

Magic Presents is a set of events focused on community building and unique in-store experiences. Two of these events saw our highest non-Prerelease play last year, so the team plans to continue innovating in this space in 2025.

We hope you'll stay tuned for further announcements in 2025!

Magic: The Gathering Arena shared how they work on connecting digital players to tabletop.

Chris Kiritz, Executive Producer for Arena, walked through the ways that the Arena team continually aims to reinforce the camaraderie of in-store community play through the digital game. His team searches for ways to be additive to the Magic ecosystem, as digital play helps players learn and grow with Magic. A key part of that growth is connecting players to the in-person gathering.

From changing digital release dates to focus players on in-store Prerelease to providing Arena rewards for repeat in-store play, the team continues to develop new ideas. Arena’s mission is to bring Magic: The Gathering to players wherever and whenever they want to play. A key aspect of this is fostering the social experience of Magic, helping players discover events that align with their interests and bridging connections between physical and digital gameplay.

Dan Barrett shared the current state of Dungeons & Dragons support in-stores.

Here are the key points Dan Barrett, Director of Commercial and Business Strategy for D&D, discussed:

• Alternate-art covers for Dungeons & Dragons releases will continue to be exclusive to the core hobby channel (including all WPN stores)
• Early access release dates will continue for select releases for North American WPN retailers in 2025, and expanding to other regions when possible
• Expanding on in-store play program support for the 2024 Core Rulebooks releases and beyond

The in-store play programs for the 2024 Core Rulebooks releases include everything needed to play and even have gift-with-purchase items available for players. The team plans to continue supporting in-store D&D play in 2025.

Speaking of 2025…

We also looked at Dungeons & Dragons 2025 release schedule.

The 2024 Core Rulebooks releases will continue, with the Monster Manual hitting the shelves in February. Additionally, the 2024 Core Rulebooks will be releasing in four additional languages in 2025: French, German, Italian, and Spanish, starting with the Player's Handbook in March.

Speaking to the new product strategy for the team, Barrett reviewed the releases coming later in 2025, focused on lowering the barriers to play and utilizing feedback from the community to create even more resonant worlds and play experiences.

He discussed four books coming in mid-late 2025:

• Dragon Delves, an adventure anthology of adventures featuring D&D's dragons
• A new Starter Set
• A dual book release, a player's guide and adventure guide focused all about D&D's most popular setting, the Forgotten Realms

Please bear in mind that any book titles shared aren't final and may change before release. Barrett also teased another product coming at the end of 2025—but he couldn't share full details just yet. Stay tuned for announcements at a later date!

Next, we reviewed key business insights showcasing (again) how important the WPN retailer community is.

MK Smith, Senior Director of Commercial Development for North and Latin America, reinforced John's sentiments in the importance of supporting you, the LGS community.

She walked through:

• How her team plans to invest in you, local game stores, as our premier channel
• Unlocking growth with product access
• Driving even more players to Prerelease

It takes a Multiverse, so we continue to appreciate your invaluable feedback as we iterate on more ideas to help drive success to your store.

More digital tools are coming to support WPN retailers.

Bri Lovett, VP of Product Management, wrapped us up by discussing the roadmap for Wizards EventLink in 2024 and 2025, plus a new concept we're working to bring to you in 2025: the WPN Preferred Partner Network.

The goal of this program is to develop a best-in-class suite of providers that you can trust to help simplify the day-to-day of your game store operations, make it even easier for you to delight your customers, and unlock new opportunities to realize growth.

We're starting with a POS partnership, then seeking to expand our testing to additional areas in 2025. Your feedback will be crucial as we explore impactful partnerships that help you drive growth and reduce costs.

The WPN Marketing Portal has expanded and is now available to all WPN stores in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Jana Sullivan, Trade Marketing Manager, talked marketing materials, WPN exclusives, and the incredible expansion of our WPN marketing portal that’s now available to all WPN stores in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

WPN retailers who registered for the WPN Summit in advance will receive a $100 marketing material credit to your account. If you couldn't attend, you can still earn a $20 credit by enrolling right away—just head to wpn.collaterate.com to get started.

You must log in to claim your credits, and your complimentary credits expire January 30, 2025.

Your WPN profile page is ready—with your play metrics at a glance!

In case you missed it, your WPN profile page is ready to view, showing your store information and play metrics at a glance. Use this page to guide you as you continue to grow within the network.

That's a wrap! Thank you so much for participating in our very first virtual WPN Retailer Summit; we hope you're looking forward to everything coming down the pipeline in 2025 and beyond.