Believe it or not, I'm kind of a cautious fan of Wizards of the Coast's new, live-service-videogame approach to D&D - and not just because, after long months of excruciating, confusing inactivity in 2025, literally any update to the DnD release schedule is like water in the desert. No, I think the whole schtick of 'seasons' and 'roadmaps' could make a lot of sense. The problem is that, in order for it to make sense, those seasons need to be stuffed full of tasty new game to play - and right now, I feel like that's still too far down WotC's priority list.
To show my working on this, let's take a short trip down memory lane. In 2021, the year we launched Wargamer, Wizards published five new DnD books, including The Wild Beyond The Witchlight and Candlekeep Mysteries - two stunning, innovative all time bangers that we awarded 9/10 reviews. We got another five books in 2022, including another 9/10 must-play, Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.
With just three further books released, 2023 might have been a quieter one, were it not for the release of Baldur's Gate 3, the best DnD game ever created. Larian kicked a hole in D&D's barrier to entry and new fans flooded in, finding a wealth of new material to play with. It was a golden time, filled with rapturous optimism.
After January 2024's Book of Many Things, the flow of new sourcebooks stopped dead, as Wizards was apparently consumed with making the new edition. Sad times, but when 5.5e finally arrived, in awkward, staggered fashion between September '24 and February '25, it was good. Very good. Wargamer Mollie's hope-filled 9/10 review of the new Player's Handbook was titled "the future looks bright".
Ever since then, though, it's felt to me as though Dungeons & Dragons has been in some kind of inscrutable, distinctly not-bright holding pattern. Throughout last year, Wizards said not a word about what new books it was dreaming up for 2026, leaving folks to dwell on the fact that fifth edition luminaries Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford had jumped ship for Daggerheart.
Let's be fair: the WotC presses didn't just stop in that time. Between the arrival of 5.5e and today, we've had four new D&D books - most recently a revamped Eberron sourcebook - and all were generally well received. But none, it's fair to say, were outstanding, mold-breaking winners in the order of Witchlight or Radiant Citadel.
In the same period, ex Blizzard World of Warcraft boss John Hight took over as Wizards President, and former Halo executive Dan Ayoub got promoted from running D&D's digital games division to being overlord of the Dungeons & Dragons brand, excitedly telling press he was moving it to a "full franchise model".
At long last, this March, we got a tiny taste of what these guys' new regime would look like, with the announcement of three upcoming roadmap "seasons" - Horror, Magic, and Champions - and three books to go with them. To my knowledge, Wizards itself hasn't used the 'live service' moniker to describe this new structure, but the community as a whole absolutely has, and in my view the shoe fits.
At the time, I saw a lot of folks online turn their nose up at this whole format and vibe, and I didn't really blame them. In the year of our lord 2026, who hasn't been burned by a 'live service' videogame that promised the world, curried fan buy-in with flashy roadmap graphics, then underdelivered and quietly shut down after a couple years?
Thing is, though, I think the concept works for Dungeons & Dragons. In the world of videogames it's often a mere rhetorical fig leaf to disguise publishers' fixation on 'recurring revenue', but I can't help feeling it sums D&D up rather well, not just accurately but positively. This is a game we already own, that will never stop working, doesn't need servers, and can't be shut down.
The product Wizards sells is just the ongoing service of updating or expanding its rules, and adding more material to play in it. Of all the videogame industry axioms that could be foisted upon D&D to fit with its new corporate strategy, this one is fine - even, dare I say, smart?
So: do I, for one, welcome our new live service D&D overlords? Not quite - or at least, not yet. Because in the last two years, I've seen the flame of community excitement burn very low compared to those halcyon days of 2023. And so far, the offerings on Wizards' new roadmap don't look like particularly potent sources of reignition to me.
The only one we yet know much about, the "gameplay expansion" Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, looks snazzy enough, with a goodly portion of new horror themed subclasses, backgrounds, and enemies that'll be decent eating for existing players when it comes out on June 16.
But impressive new material it ain't. This is Wizards' fourth drink from the Barovian well since 2016, joining two separate editions of the masterpiece adventure Curse of Strahd, as well as an existing Ravenloft sourcebook, Van Richten's Guide, released in 2021. It's cool, it's welcome - but it's not a landmark.
As for the Season of Magic in September, that's two books: Arcana Unleashed - a rules tome adding new spells, and presumably final versions of recently playtested caster subclasses - and its partner adventure book Deadfall, featuring "an all-new Wizard War as well as a deep dive into the powerful magical society of Thay". The latter could be drumming up the thrill factor somewhat, except that it's now five months out and we still know almost nothing about it.
After that, it's all rumors and uncertainty. We know Luke Gygax is making an official Greyhawk book, but nobody even seems to be sure what the title is. The community at large is convinced Wizards' mysterious Winter 'Season of Champions' release will be the long awaited Dark Sun reboot, but that remains unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, what's the actual news coming out of Wizards' dungeon? It's making a Ravenloft actual play series, starring BG3's Devora Wilde (Lae'zel) and Neil Newbon (Astarion). I want to be clear: that's a great move from WotC. Both actors are outstanding, and a well produced actual play that benefits from insider knowledge of Wizards' upcoming material is an enticing proposition. It's even being set up to let fans play along at home, which is neat - though we have a few concerns about it. But what it isn't is a book filled with exciting, refreshing new D&D for me to play.
Honestly, the current state of things just makes me yearn for 2021-2023, when the 'live service' of D&D included a highly publicized pipeline of new expansion books, amplified and enlivened by an active schedule of glossy preview shows from video editor Todd Kenreck's team. Did some portions of those previews feel trite and overdone? Sure. Were all the books as earthshakingly brilliant as they made out? No.
But it was a time when Wizards wanted to talk with us about its books, having actual human writers and designers earnestly try to get us excited about them. I miss that. Kenreck was laid off from WotC in June 2025, by the way - the same week Crawford and Perkins declared for Daggerheart. He talked about it in our live AMA with Mollie last year.
From a big company's point of view, the 'traditional' D&D product is troublesome, because all you can really sell is the books; you can only feasibly make 3-5 of those a year; and once a customer's bought one copy, they'll never need another. It's not really a collectible hobby like MTG cards or Warhammer models, where an individual fan's spending can balloon indefinitely. To make money line go up, D&D needs more people, more product types, or ideally both. That's not inherently evil. I think more D&D stuff is good.
So, consciously repackaging itself as a "full franchise" makes sense. I'll watch more movies gladly, I welcome a Wizards-exclusive actual play, and I'll be as excited as the next dungeoneer to play Warlock and the other new AAA videogames Wizards is pouring money into for D&D. I'm absolutely fine - pleased, even - with treating its TTRPG releases as a live service arrangement from now on.
But Wizards, here's my trade-off: you have to start investing in the actual tabletop roleplaying game again - not just the roadmaps, but a regular stream of great books to go in them. Not just flashy actual play shows, but an open, active relationship with your community that engages with the new TTRPG books and gets people invested in them.
Baldur's Gate 3 performed real magic for D&D, not just because it was really good, but because it delivered people into a 5e ecosystem at its historic peak: the game's most popular ruleset ever, still feasting on the previous two years' banquet of genuinely industry leading TTRPG content. It was a perfect storm that showed folks the absolute best of what D&D could be.
If Warlock does even half as well as BG3 when it's released in 2027, it'll bring another large crowd of wide-eyed newcomers to the tabletop - and I wonder what kind of adventurers' feast will await them on arrival? Wizards still hasn't shown us half the menu, but I hope they're incredibly busy in the kitchens, because I'm getting pretty damn hungry. Dinner and a show is lovely - but only if you get the dinner.
Maybe I'm just being a pessimistic old busybody - what do you think? Are you stoked for Ravenloft 2: Barovian Boogaloo? Arcana Unleashed got your somatic maneuvers in a twist? Come join the free Wargamer Discord community and share your takes!