Elon Musk announced on X a few days ago that his company XAI would start creating an AI game studio to “make games great again.” The tweet caused a stir, especially since Musk had previously suggested he might buy Hasbro.
Hasbro currently owns many well-known franchises such as ‘Power Rangers,’ ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ ‘Transformers,’ ‘G.I. Joe,’ and ‘My Little Pony.’ Besides making toys, the company uses these properties for screen projects, like the newly-released ‘Transformers One.’
If Musk were to acquire Hasbro, there’s a chance he’ll make his way into the film industry, as well, bringing his controversial vision to beloved IPs. After all, the billionaire made his stance against ‘woke’ content quite clear in recent months, having blocked Disney’s Pride posts on the platform.
Concerns about Elon Musk buying Hasbro first surfaced in November 2022 when he reacted to a tweet criticizing a foreword in ‘The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons,’ which addressed problematic content in the game’s early versions. The X owner’s comment read (via ComicBook), “Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created ‘Dungeons & Dragons.’”
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Project Lead and Wizards of the Coast Senior Designer Jason Tondro later addressed the issue, saying, “It never occurred to me I’d rouse the ire of the grognards. It’s obvious now that I look back on it, but I just don’t take those critiques seriously even now. I consider those people not worth listening to, so I didn’t anticipate their outrage.”
Musk replied by asking, “How much is Hasbro?” A user reacted to the tweet, “El*n, stop buying and ruining everything challenge,” while someone else wrote, “This is the worst news ever. he would DEFINITELY ruin it.”
General response to Musk’s suggestion is negative as the businessman, who took over Twitter and rebranded it as X, received large criticism for the way he managed the platform in recent years. His conservative approach to LGBTQ+ content as well as talks of gender and race issues especially irked users.
