Hasbro's Acquisition of Wizards of the Coast
GENERAL FAQ WITH THE *REAL* ANSWERS

• Why is Wizards of the Coast being sold to Hasbro?
  It represents a merger of two of world's greatest game companies. Plus we both are with grammar good.

• What are these strategic synergies?
  They're buzzwords that sound impressive. We're not quite sure what they mean, either.

• Isn't Hasbro just doing this to ride the Pokemon wave?
  Duh. We didn't buy them out BEFORE they gained mind-control of all the seven-year-olds.

• When will the acquisition be completed?
  As soon as we can take operational control of the Orbital Mind Control Lasers.

• How much was the company sold for?
  More money than you'll ever see, peon.

• How will this acquisition affect the business of Wizards of the Coast?
  R&D, marketing, sales, and other key businesses of the company are not expected to change. That's our cruel little joke to you. Ha-ha.

• Will there be product pricing changes?
  There are no pricing changes anticipated at this time by the insane or terminally naive. Everyone else can figure it out.

• Is the company moving?
  NO. The company will remain in a stasis field for eternity.

• Will there be any consolidation?
  Very little, if any. Wizards of the Coast will be a division of Hasbro, not a department. A division is a business unit large enough to have its own legal, financial and HR departments. The minds of anyone involved in those departments, however, will be detached and shipped to Hasbro.

• Is the company name changing?
  The company will continue to function as Wizards of the Coast. We need more names for the Hasbro website. Soon, we will have them all! Muahahaha... err, nevermind.

• Will the Wizards of the Coast logo disappear?
  No, the Wizards of the Coast logo will still be utilized. We're not going to tell you HOW though.

• Will Wizards of the Coast corporate culture be affected by this acquisition?
  Have YOU ever been through a merger? Stupid question. Next.

• Will any Wizards of the Coast employees lose their jobs?
  It is not anticipated. Hasbro is not looking at this acquisition as an opportunity to consolidate, but is interested in growth opporunities and strategic synergies. We've promised not to can anyone until AFTER we figure out that last sentence.

• Is Peter Adkison staying with the company?
  YES. Peter and all key members of his management team are expected to stay with the company. Peter will report to Herb Baum, president and chief operating officer of Hasbro. After work each day, he's expected to "laugh all the way to the bank."

• Will I still have the same accessibility to the company as before or do I need to go through Hasbro?
  We are not anticipating any procedural changes at this time. You should contact the same people at Wizards of the Coast in the same way you have in the past, which is to say, in vain.

• Are GameKeeper and Wizards of the Coast stores impacted by this acquisition?
  GameKeeper and Wizards of the Coast retail stores will continue to operate and crush all opposition mercilessly. It's why they fit so well within Hasbro's corporate structure.

• Is Wizards of the Coast on-line store affected by this acquisition?
  There's an online store?

• Does this affect the Pokemon trading card game in any way?
  NO. Apart from making it the only game available to kids under 14, of course. That's not much of a change, granted.

• How is Dungeons & Dragons affected?
  Is Hasbro even interested in D&D?
  Wizards of the Coast will continue to publish roleplaying products based on the Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property. Hasbro is extremely excited about potential electronic opportunities with D&D. However, "evil" as an alignment will be replaced with "grumpy" to fit in with our "Family Game Night" model.

• How will product sales be affected?
  Wizards of the Coast will continue to sell its product as it always has through distributors, premier retailers, our own retail stores and via e-commerce. Just for more money.

• Will Hasbro have to approve everything you do now?
  Wizards of the Coast is being acquired by Hasbro. Did you have to ask this question?

• Where is Hasbro headquartered?
  A suburb approximately 14 miles northwest of downtown Hell.

• What other businesses and brands does Hasbro own?
  Playskool, Kenner, Tonka, Oddzon, Super Soaker, Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers, Tiger, Hasbro Interactive, Galoob, Microsoft, the US Supreme Court, the International Cocaine Smugglers, OPEC, and Serbia.

• Does Hasbro have a website?
  www.hasbroatemybaby.com

• What happens to www.wizards.com?
  It will continue to function as it has for the time being. It has not yet been determined what changes or consolidations, if any, will be made, at least while anyone's paying attention to the story. Until that time, we'll say nothing at all is going to change in the long-standing tradition of corporate buyouts.

• Is Hasbro a public company?
  Yes. Its stock is traded on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under HAS. Did you notice the big news bumped us a whole 1/16th of a point?

• Does Hasbro now own Gencon?
  Under the terms of the agreement, Hasbro owns all assets of Wizards of the Coast - including GenCon. Wizards of the Coast, however, will continue to run GenCon as it has in the past. If anything, we have opportunities to raise the level of awareness of GenCon. On a side note, the Candyland World Championships will be the central event of GenCon 2000, on August 9.

• Could the answers to any of the above questions change over time?
  Only if we want them to. You can complain, but we can only promise not to listen.

• Who frequently asks these questions anyway??
  Mentally-challenged eight year olds from Tuvalu. It's our new target audience.