Wizards of the Coast Axes Five New Dungeons & Dragons Video Games
Baldur’s Gate 3 remains unaffected, but independent game studios will likely take a hit.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg news, an unnamed Wizards of the Coast spokesperson announced that they have decided to cancel five Dungeons & Dragons video games that are currently in development with various studios. This includes an internal project codenamed “Jabberwocky”, as well as four new titles using the D&D license and game worlds.
While none of the games on the chopping block had been officially announced, according to reports they were in various stages of development, which is common given that it can take 4 to 5 years to release a game title.
In the interview, the Wizards of the Coast spokesperson indicated that the company is still “committed to using digital games” and hopes to “focus on games which are strategically aligned with developing our existing brands and those which show promise in expanding or engaging our audience in new ways.”
Over the years there have been countless Dungeons & Dragons video games, most notably in the 80s and 90s, with hits like the PC classics Pool of Radiance and Baldur’s Gate. More recently, however, Wizards of the Coast has been struggling to produce new titles that resonate with both fans and critics.
Their most recent outing was the hack-and-slash brawler Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, which was developed by the Montreal-based Invoke Studios (formerly know as Tuque Games). Released in June 2021 for the the PC, PS4, PS5 and Xbox One, the game failed to connect with players, earning mixed or average reviews on the video game review aggregator website Metacritic.
That being said, fans (and Wizards of the Coast) are likely expecting bigger things with the upcoming video game Baldur’s Gate 3, which is slated for release in August 2023 for PC and Mac after several years of development and early access testing by Larian Studios (creators of the popular D&D inspired RPG Divinity: Original Sin).
Notably, Wizards of the Coast is also dabbling somewhat in video game development with their upcoming (and still unnamed) virtual tabletop (VTT) platform that is being created using the Unreal video game engine. The platform will be part of their ongoing One D&D playtest and is designed to replace the need for miniatures, creature tokens and physical battlemats. It’s unclear if these recent cuts to other video game projects will impact the VTT as well.
In the meantime, the cancellation of the five Dungeons & Dragons video games will likely have a significant impact on a number of independent game studios, including Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment, both of whom have dedicated teams working on D&D game projects.
While details on both projects were still under wraps, according a tweet from Hidden Path in March 2021 the game was likely going to be a “AAA, third-person, open-world fantasy RPG that will be taking place inside the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.”
Similarly, the title from Otherside appeared to be relatively far into development and was supposedly a multiplayer game set in the Forgotten Realms. In fact, legendary video game designer and Chief Creative Officer Warren Spector, had given an interview with GamesBeat in a March 2022, at which time he’d said “The D&D game is going well. You’d have to ask them to know for sure, but I think Wizards is happy with what we’re doing.”
The move will also likely have a significant impact on Invoke Studios (creators of the aforementioned Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance game from 2021). According to a press release from October 2022, Invoke Studios was working on a “AAA game derived from the Dungeons & Dragons universe and developed on the Unreal 5 engine.”
While these cuts are likely to hit these studios relatively hard, they don’t appear to be as severe for Wizards of the Coast. In fact, according to their spokesperson, the layoffs mean that only 15 internal employees will be impacted, with these individuals given the opportunity to shift to other roles within the company.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story as it develops in the days ahead.
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Cameron Nichols is a Senior Editor who lives in Boston, Massechustes, 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).
