Following last year's celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D henceforth), Wizards of the Coast has slowly unveiled a bold plan in the gaming space. This coincided with a new president, John Hight, who joined the RPG, board game, and collectible card games publisher after being the 'Chief Caretaker' for World of Warcraft at Blizzard for ten years.
Therefore, it is perhaps not that much of a surprise to hear him speak about his desire to see a new D&D MMORPG. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, he openly admitted that he'd like to see that happen, although such a project would likely have to deviate from World of Warcraft's two-decade-old formula.
I'd love to have that. I think that we'll want to rethink what an MMO is in this day and age. I think the traditional model that Blizzard – well, even before that, Ultima Online, Everquest – pursued, that could use updating. I think in our case, it's probably a crawl, walk, run situation. We want to make sure that we've assembled the talent, we have the backend technology, we have the plans to pursue. But of course, that's a glimmer in my eye. I want to see that happen.
D&D and MMORPGs are two of my favorite things in the entertainment space, so I would be lying if I didn't say how excited I am about the prospect. There are already two MMORPGs based on Wizards' IP (Dungeons & Dragons Online, originally released by Turbine in 2006 and now maintained by Standing Stone Games, and Neverwinter, launched by Cryptic in 2013), but they are pretty old by this point and never really got anywhere as big as the franchise deserves.
Still, this is not a game announcement. Hight's statement clarifies that Wizards of the Coast wants to build a tech and talent base before even attempting such a gargantuan task. Then, once the project actually gets the green light, it may take the better part of a decade before it's done, so better sit tight.
In the meantime, we can at least look forward to many other D&D games, such as:
- The fantasy tabletop adventure game Demeo x DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Battlemarked, out later this year.
- Project Baxter, an online cooperative game in development at Starbreeze (the makers of Payday) and scheduled to launch in 2026.
- A new game from Invoke, formerly known as Tuque, which made the Dark Alliance game.
- The recently announced action/adventure game in development at Giant Skull, the studio founded by Stig Asmussen. Asmussen knew Hight from their time at Sony, before Hight's move to Blizzard, which made the partnership easier.
- A survival/life simulation/action RPG in development at Gameloft.
Earlier this month, the Wizards of the Coast president also announced hiring a group of former Monolith and Cliffhanger Games developers led by Michael de Plater. That announcement only mentioned this team would incubate a 'cool new game concept' without clarifying whether it would be set in the D&D IP or something new. Wizards isn't putting all its gaming eggs in the same basket, either: they've also funded Exodus, the Mass Effect-like RPG in development at Archetype Entertainment, and a GI Joe title in the works at Atomic Arcade.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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