Wizards of the Coast reveals it has cancelled the development of at least five planned video games based on the popular TTRG Dungeons & Dragons.
Wizards of the Coast, developers for the popular TTRPG Dungeons & Dragons, announced it had cancelled plans for multiple video games based on the tabletop favorite.
Per Bloomberg, the Hasbro-owned developer revealed it had decided to scale back its foray into video games, dropping several projects centered around Dungeons & Dragons. Despite the cancellation, Wizards of the Coast said fewer than 15 employees would lose their jobs over the action and would be welcome to apply to other positions within the company. This does not affect the highly-anticipated full release of the upcoming Baldur’s Gate III.
In a statement from their spokesperson, Wizards of the Coast reiterated that it is “committed to using digital games in the future, but that the developer “made some changes to our long-term portfolio 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.”
Although Wizards of the Coast employees won’t suffer from the cancelled plans, several other developers involved in the dropped deals will. Independent studios, including Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment, had video games in the works with Wizards of the Coast before the decision to shelve them. It remains unclear what those titles might have entailed. The other three titles included an internal product code-named Jabberwocky and two more games from external studios that remain unknown at this time.
DnD Video Game Attempts
Previous attempts at Dungeons & Dragons video games resulted in mixed reviews. Its most recent, fully-released attempt, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, launched to largely negative reviews that found it unbalanced and lacking polish. Players control four characters from D&D lore, including the drow Ranger Drizzt Do’Urden from R. A. Salvatore’s Icewind Dale trilogy.
A better received though not yet fully released title has its launch set for later this year. Baldur’s Gate III returns to the franchise twenty years since the last game in the series. An early release began in Oct. 2020, which let players experience the first 25 hours and around a fifth of the total explorable map. Baldur’s Gate III recently announced it would have its full launch in August 2023 after nearly three years in Early Release. It also revealed that voice actor and Dungeon Master for Critical Role, Matthew Mercer, would voice fan-favorite Minsc in the upcoming title.
Source: Bloomberg
