The publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering may have cut back on its plans!

Bloomberg reports that the publisher has canceled at least five games. That sounds like a lot for them, and if you look back to 2019, it is. In the pipeline, they revealed “seven or eight” Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) games. It included Baldur’s Gate III, which is in early access, slowly making its way toward the finish line at Larian Studios. You can also include Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, which didn’t get a strong reception in 2021.

On the other hand, the other games are either not heard of or not yet released. Not all of them could be in jeopardy, as the publisher’s comment below about focusing on “existing brands” (quoted below) may suggest that D&D projects might not be in as much trouble. Hidden Path Entertainment, best known for its Defense Grid series, is working on a big-budget open-world D&D game, and the studio’s website has five job offers related to the project. Otherside Entertainment (which is releasing System Shock Remake in March) has Paul Neurath and Warren Spector, pioneers of the immersive simulator genre. The latter said last year that their game, set in the Forgotten Realms, was progressing well, and although their job offers have disappeared, they mentioned multiplayer gameplay systems.

Wizards of the Coast has in-house studios, too. Tuque Games, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, which has continued under the name Invoke Studios since its acquisition, is making a AAA game inspired by the D&D universe using Unreal Engine 5, according to a press release. Skeleton Key Studios has yet to announce what it will do, and Archetype Entertainment, formed from ex-BioWare developers, is making a narrative RPG set in a new sci-fi universe. The studio is led by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic lead designer James Ohlen…

According to Bloomberg, fewer than fifteen employees will lose their jobs due to the cancellations, and all may be reassigned elsewhere within the publisher. In response to PCGamer, the publisher said, “We remain committed to using digital games as a cornerstone of our strategy for bringing our games to players around the world. We have made some changes to our long-term portfolio to focus on games strategically aligned with developing our existing brands and those which show promise in expanding or engaging our audience in new ways.”

What got axed?

Source: PCGamer