Popverse's top stories

• DC has unveiled a major new Wonder Woman villain over two years in the making, co-created by one of James Gunn's top writers
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Livestream Monster Hunter Wilds, Borderlands 4, Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man, and more PAX West 2025 panels live

The world of board games continues to change. Now, Hasbro has handed over the manufacturing and distribution duties for Mastermind over to Goliath Games. 

As reported by ICv2, it seems that Hasbro is open to licensing out decades-old board games to other companies. Mastermind first hit shelves in 1971, and I'll admit, to my '90s Baby eyes, nothing about this codebreaking game rang a bell. So maybe that's why Hasbro was willing to sign over Mastermind to a different company so it could be revamped for a new generation of board gamers. Because if you set down a Mastermind board in front of me, I would assume it was a display for a golf tee collection. (Sorry.) 

In the meantime, Hasbro has enjoyed an explosion of popularity for Dungeons & Dragons, with phrases like "chaotic good" and "chaotic evil" becoming commonplace slang outside of game shops. And the company has licensing agreements for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Marvel, and more. I can't imagine that those Disney licenses would come cheaply, so perhaps it isn't surprising that they're willing to license out some of the mustier offerings in their vault. 

To address the elephant in the room, the current presidential administration's tariffs are forcing Hasbro and other board game companies to take action. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks told CNBC earlier this month that the company is "making rapid changes" in order to avoid taking a hit from goods manufactured in China. The tariffs will bring a reported "$300 million to its bottom line," which certainly isn't great. While we don't know if Hasbro's decision to license out Mastermind to Goliath Games is motivated by the looming threat of tariffs, it may be worth keeping an eye on the company in the succeeding months to see if any other games are licensed out.

If anyone has always dreamed of re-releasing 1979's Risk rip-off Balance of Power, now is clearly the best time to tell Hasbro. What a world we live in. 

The gaming industry has come a long way since Pong blew all our minds in the 70s. We've got everything you need to know about the next big thing in games. Of course, Grand Theft Auto VI is going to be the big game of 2026, but there are plenty of other games coming out between now and then. Here is our starter guide for every gamer:

• All upcoming games in 2025 and beyond
• Gamify My Life, our weekly gaming column designed
• Popverse Picks: The best Assassin's Creed protagonists
• How to play every GTA game in order
• Why the GTA 6 budget isn't as crazy as you think
• The Magic: The Gathering x Spider-Man crossover set wouldn't exist without the Spider-Verse

And be sure to check Popverse regularly for the latest gaming news.