Wizards Presents 2023: What To Expect This Year
After a year of ups and downs, what can fans expect from Wizards Presents 2023?
The past year has been a rollercoaster year for Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast. Early on the company took a massive PR hit for their handling of the Open Game License, a situation which resulted in the brand walking back the potential changes and trying to smooth things over with the D&D Creator Summit.
At the same time, the company has snagged some major wins over the past year, with new products like Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen and Keys from the Golden Vault receiving generally favorable reviews and sales. The company has also continued with the development of their One D&D playtest, and gained mainstream appeal thanks to the success of the new D&D film Honor Among Thieves.
All of which suggests that the upcoming Wizards Presents annual event is likely going to be a big one, with the publisher likely trying to move forward during a period in which the Dungeons & Dragons brand is under a microscope.
In this article we break, down everything you need to know about Wizards Presents, including what it the annual event is all about, what to expect this year, and what’s happened in previous years.
What is Wizards Presents?
Wizards Presents is an annual event hosted by Wizards of the Coast. During the event, the company officially unveils the line up of new products for the coming year for both the Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons brands. The event usually takes place in the late summer and is streamed online with accompanying trailers, presentations, interviews and video content.
Notably, Wizards Presents is often confused with D&D Direct, which is another annual event held earlier in the year which offers information on upcoming products related to Dungeons & Dragons.
When is Wizards Presents 2023
The exact dates for Wizards Presents 2023 have not yet been officially announced. However, based on previous years, it’s likely that the event will take place in August of 2023. Wizards of the Coast usually announces the event several months in advance, so we can probably expect an official announcement sometime in the late spring or early summer of 2023.
What is happening at Wizards Presents 2023?
While the specific details of Wizards Presents 2023 are still unknown, it’s expected that Wizards of the Coast will make some major announcements during the event. One key theme during the event is likely going to be focused on the upcoming celebration of the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons (which will occur in 2024).
Other major announcements will likely be around the release of the new 2024 D&D Core Role set, which will consist of an enhanced fifth edition of the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual, all of which are being updated based on the ongoing One D&D playtest.
The company is also expected to reveal details around several upcoming D&D adventures which they’ve briefly touched on in past discussions. This includes a new adventure featuring the Red Wizards of Thay, and a new campaign featuring the return of the villainous arch-lich Vecna.
We can also likely expect to find more information about the remaining publications that were slated for publication in the latter part of 2023. This includes the upcoming campaign Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk and the new D&D 5e reboot Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse.
What happened at Wizards Presents 2022
Wizards Presents 2022 was co-hosted by YouTuber and former IGN presenter Sydnee Goodman, actor and musician Jimmy Wong, and D&D influencer Ginny Di. The event featured a number of trailers, presentations and interviews with Wizards of the Coast designers and team members.
While much of the event was focused on Magic: The Gathering, there were a number of announcements related to Dungeons & Dragons, including:
One D&D: During Wizards Presents, the team revealed more about the ongoing playtest, upcoming virtual tabletop system and plans for a new core rules set that will be compatible with all current DnD 5e books.
New Dragonlance: The team announced the Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen campaign book and related Warriors of Krynn D&D board game.
2023 Roadmap: At Wizards Presents 2022, the team unveiled the complete roadmap for the rest of 2022 and 2023, this included Keys from the Golden Vault, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, an expanded Phandelver Campaign, The Book of Many Things, and Planescape.
Spelljammer: Adventures in Space: The team also announced the new Spelljammer: Adventures in Space campaign setting.
Drizzt turns 35: During Wizards Presents the team celebrated the 35th anniversary of Drizzt with three major initiatives: a re-release of new covers for all of the Drizzt books, a new Legend of Drizzt visual dictionary, and a new webcomic featuring Drizzt’s daughter.
D&D heads to Japan: The team unveiled that D&D is expanding to Japan with a series of new products and a new D&D Japan website.
What comes next?
We’ll be keeping a close eye on any announcements related to Wizards Presents 2023. In the meantime, you can check out the complete Wizards Presents 2022 video below.
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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).
