Toymaker Hasbro Partners With Online Gamer Roblox For Digital Nerf Merch

Hasbro, Roblox, Nerf, digital, board games, Merchandise

Hasbro, the world’s biggest toymaker, is teaming up with the gaming platform Roblox to launch new Nerf and Monopoly experiences and merchandise.

Adam Kleinman, vice president of Nerf Global Marketing, said in a press release on Tuesday (April 13) that the collaboration will offer “an incredible line of blasters” that people are “clamoring to get their hands on.”

“Our design teams have done a phenomenal job capturing the creativity and essence of Roblox creators and their most immersive, innovative Roblox games in Nerf blaster form, and we can’t wait to deliver these new items to Roblox fans around the world,” Kleinman said.

Headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, since 1977, Hasbro’s tie-up with the Monopoly board game includes the forthcoming Roblox 2022 Edition game that gives players the chance to collect and trade Roblox experiences. Each game includes a code to enable players to explore a number of virtual experiences.

Craig Donato, chief business officer of Roblox, said that the company “values the incredible contributions of its community of creators.” As such, its teaming with Nerf and Monopoly is an accelerated inroad to help people “bring their inspiring creations on the platform to life” for the many fans of the combined platform “to enjoy in the metaverse as well as in real life.”

On tap later in 2021, Nerf will use the Roblox platform to introduce a “Nerf-branded experience on Roblox.” The details are expected to roll out in the spring of this year.

Hasbro’s eCommerce sales in its gaming and entertainment units in February were fueled in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said that its eCommerce sales surpassed $1 billion and now account for roughly 25 percent of its total revenue.

Roblox went public and saw its first day of trading on March 10, which also saw a market capitalization of $38 billion.


CFTC Appoints Whistleblower Office Director Brian Young to Lead Enforcement

CFTC

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has named the former director of its Whistleblower Office, Brian Young, as its director of enforcement.

The appointment was announced Friday (Feb. 14) by CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham, according to a CFTC press release. Young had been serving in an acting capacity since Jan. 22.

“He is a fearless leader that will build an even more impressive enforcement program that will stay true to the CFTC’s mission to protect the American public from fraudsters and scammers,” Pham said in the release. “I am confident that under Brian’s leadership, the CFTC will expand and scale our resources to help more victims than ever before and ensure the integrity of our markets in the name of justice.”

Young joined the CFTC as director of its Whistleblower Office in 2024, according to the release. During his first year in that role, Young oversaw a team that achieved an all-time high number of annual dispositions of whistleblower award applications.

Prior to joining the agency, Young was with the Department of Justice for nearly 20 years, most recently as acting director of litigation for the Antitrust Division, the release said.

Before that, Young served in various roles in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division, including chief of the Fraud Section’s Litigation Unit, per the release.

While at the Department of Justice, he successfully tried criminal fraud and manipulation cases in the CFTC’s markets, according to the release.

“I want to thank Acting Chairman Pham for her confidence in me and for her commitment to continuing the CFTC’s aggressive efforts to protect our global commodity markets from fraud, manipulation and other abusive practices,” Young said in the release.

The White House said in a Wednesday press release that it sent to the Senate nominations for Brian Quintenz to be chairman of the CFTC and a commissioner of the CFTC for a term expiring April 13, 2029.

Quintenz is a former commissioner of the CFTC and now works for the cryptocurrency unit at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, PYMNTS reported Wednesday (Feb. 12).

The commission is expected to gain new powers over the cryptocurrency sector.