Wizards of the Coast Looking for New D&D Design Leads
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Wizards of the Coast has recently posted two new job openings for senior designers on the Dungeons & Dragons team, both of which will be responsible for guiding the overall direction of D&D as the game evolves in the wake of the new 2024 rules set.
The postings come just a few months after the departure of senior D&D design leads, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, both of whom were instrumental in the development of the Dungeons & Dragons brand and game mechanics over the past decade.
So what do these new open roles mean for the future of D&D? Below, we break out all the details.
What are the latest senior D&D design roles?
Wizards of the Coast describes the Head of Game Ecosystem role as a “crucial leadership position responsible for driving the complete design and evolution of the Dungeons & Dragons game system. This role ensures consistency across all game releases, both physical and digital, preserving the integrity of the rules and mechanics while encouraging innovation.” The posting also notes that WotC is looking for a veteran RPG professional with at least 10 years of game designer experience.
The Principal Game Designer position will “lead the execution of Dungeons & Dragons’ major product releases. These tentpole projects span analog and digital expressions and may include setting content, rules-adjacent systems, adventures, and platform-native features. This role architects and stewards the design vision of sophisticated product suites, working closely with design leads, editorial, rules leadership, and digital teams to ensure cohesion and quality across every player touchpoint.” The role is also geared towards veteran TTRPG designers, with at least 8 years of experience in the industry.
Final Thoughts
Based on the descriptions, both roles seem very similar to the work Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins have been overseeing over the past few years. It’s clearly a vacuum that Wizards of the Coast is attempting to fill, while at the same time over the past year or two we’ve seen more exposure and projects going to senior D&D designers such as Justice Arman and Makenzie de Armas.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead. In the meantime, you can learn more about (and apply for) the Head of Game Ecosystem and Principal Game Designer roles directly via the Hasbro website.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been playing D&D since the early 90s, when he was introduced by his older brother and cut his teeth on AD&D 2nd Edition. Since then he’s played virtually every RPG he could get his nerdy little mitts on (including a weird Goth phase in the early 2000s when he rocked Vampire: The Masquerade pretty hard). His favorite D&D campaign setting is the Forgotten Realms and his favorite character to play was a Half-Orc Barbarian named Grug (who was unfortunately devoured by a gelatinous cube).
