Tabletop gaming publisher Wizards of the Coast has announced the cancellation of at least five Dungeons and Dragons videogames. Speaking to Bloomberg on January 3, a Wizards spokesperson says the publisher remains “committed to using digital games”, and there have been “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”.
Inside Wizards, this change apparently doesn’t mean much; Bloomberg says less than 15 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the D&D game cancellations. The same can’t be said for the independent studios working on the now-axed titles. Bloomberg lists Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment as two studios that’ll be more significantly affected.
Hidden Path was still hiring developers to work on their open-world D&D game as late as October 2022. Neither studio has released a public statement on the cancellations at this time.
According to Bloomberg, the five cancelled games also include an internal project going by the codename Jabberwocky and two other external games that were in early development. One other possible studio that may also be impacted is Skeleton Key Studios, a AAA studio debuted by Wizards of the Coast in July 2022 (Wargamer has reached out to Skeleton Key to confirm, but at this time has not received a reply).
Given that a rough Baldur’s Gate 3 release date was announced recently, and that Matt Mercer will be voicing Minsc, it seems pretty certain that Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 is not part of the mass cancellation.
While we lost many D&D games on Tuesday, our guide to the best existing ones might help to fill the hole. We can also point tabletop players to the best DnD races and DnD classes for their next TTRPG character.