D&D 2024 is dead, long live D&D 5.5e! Five years after announcing an evolution of fifth edition - and two years after the damn rules released - Wizards of the Coast has changed the name of the game's latest edition. Because, you know, that's what it is. A new edition.
This is actually the fourth name that Wizards gave to its recent core rulebooks revision, and it was revealed via an official FAQ page. First, there was One D&D, a codename that applied to Hasbro's increasingly zealous digital strategy as well as the new rulebooks. That name came about in 2021, when Wizards first revealed it was working on a "backwards-compatible" update to fifth edition.
Then, in 2023, we were told that the game was now called One D&D, oh wait sorry D&D 2024. "When talking specifically about the revised fifth edition core rulebooks and their predecessors, we'll identify them by their year of publication", D&D Beyond clarified. "So, if we're talking about the barbarian class in the upcoming Player's Handbook, we'll refer to the book as the '2024 Player's Handbook.'"
In fact, Wizards explicitly told the world at the 2023 D&D Creator's Summit that One D&D D&D 2024 was not a new edition. Nor was it a 'half-edition' like 3.5e, a statement that has aged as gracefully as a glass of milk in the sun.
In 2023, we also learned that, once the rulebooks were actually out, they would no longer be referred to with the 2024 addendum. The game was, in fact, simply called One D&D, wait sorry D&D 2024, wait sorry Dungeons and Dragons 5e. Everything is one edition, but, crucially, these new rules that are not a new edition are also not an errata.
By this point (and remember, the books hadn't even released yet), most people were scratching their heads and asking "what the f*** is going on?" I saw polls flooding the internet ahead of the new Player's Handbook launch, asking what the new rules should be referred to.
It was a serious debate for Reddit mods, who needed new labels to categorize different D&D discussions online. It was an even more serious debate for tabletop journalists, who faced the frustrating task of trying to tell readers - and fickle Google algorithms - what their articles were about and who they were for.
I have literally spent days attempting to suss out what to call One D&D D&D 2024 Dungeons and Dragons 5e, and how to distinguish it from the tangible, still very-much-being-used rules from 2014. Imagine my despair the second and third time Wizards of the Coast rebranded its flagship tabletop RPG. Remember when we thought this thing was going to be called 6e? Remember that?! Simpler times. I was a different, more innocent person then.
The 'D&D 5.5e' label marks the end of a years-long acrobatics act, where Wizards tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid admitting it had designed a new edition. I can understand why it was so keen to do this.
Each edition of D&D has, culturally, been perceived as a separate game that splits the loyalty of the fanbase. 3.5e players are a very different demographic from 4e players, or 5e players, or One D&D oh wait sorry, D&D 2024 oh wait sorry, Dungeons and Dragons 5e oh wait sorry, D&D 5.5e players. A significant portion of players will simply choose not to transition to the game's latest edition, and that means they're not spending money on new rulebooks.
Fifth edition is Wizards of the Coast's most popular version of D&D. When Rascal lamented One D&D D&D 2024 Dungeons and Dragons 5e D&D 5.5e's confusing naming conventions back in 2024, D&DBeyond had 10 million subscribers. That's a big slice of pie, and Wizards was keen not to lose any crumbs by cutting it into pieces.
So, we got a backwards-compatible revision that was eager to define what it wasn't, but wasn't sure exactly what it was. We got a D&DBeyond update that attempted to remove swathes of 2014 D&D content in favor of automatically implementing One D&D D&D 2024 Dungeons and Dragons 5e D&D 5.5e rules for new users.
That change to D&DBeyond never occurred, by the way - because fans were so vehemently against it that Wizards had to walk the plans back. Because, despite every attempt Wizards has made to avoid making a new edition of D&D, it has made a new edition of D&D. The fanbase has treated it as such, regardless of naming convention. Some have never used the One D&D D&D 2024 Dungeons and Dragons 5e D&D 5.5e rules, others mix-and-match as they please, and others have gone all-in on the new books, discarding their older D&D toys.
This bizarre attempt to protect D&D's brand has achieved the opposite, sowing confusion and lack of respect for the game in an era where consumer trust in D&D is already shaky. At least Wizards has finally seen the writing on the wall. If everyone else is calling it 5.5e, it's easier not to fight the current.
Hopefully, this is the last time we'll see One D&D D&D 2024 Dungeons and Dragons 5e D&D 5.5e's name change. Because (and, for legal reasons, this is just my opinion) the whole thing has been utterly f***ing stupid.
Got your own opinions on the new name, or just want to talk about your favorite DnD classes? We're all ears in the Wargamer Discord.