The follow-up to Baldur’s Gate 3 in the Dungeons & Dragons universe has a Lord of the Rings veteran at the helm, and he’s now gathering a team of star developers. Former Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor producer Michael de Plater is working alongside veterans of the canceled Black Panther game.

The video game industry is worth billions, but not every project survives. Sometimes the risk just outweighs the reward, and that’s exactly what happened with Cliffhanger Games’ canceled Black Panther project. But while the game and its studio are gone, its developers remain. The good news? They’ve now joined forces with Michael de Plater—best known for his work on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor—to work on a brand-new Dungeons & Dragons game.

According to John Hight, president of Wizards of the Coast, de Plater has reunited with 14 core developers from Cliffhanger Games, which EA shut down earlier this summer. Some of them had also worked with him at Monolith Productions, another studio that recently closed its doors. The vision is to channel the combined experience and expertise of these veterans into a high-budget, innovative D&D title.

Wizards of the Coast grants full creative freedom

For now, the project is still in its early stages, with no details yet revealed about its theme or mechanics. Hight teased that it will be “something very cool and new”, but emphasized that the game will undergo a lengthy concept phase before final design choices are made.

Wizards of the Coast’s strategy is to give de Plater the time and freedom needed to shape the project properly. The publisher is pursuing a similar approach with other notable developers, including Corrine Busche, co-director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Stig Asmussen, director of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, both of whom are also working on unannounced titles. This highlights the company’s push to prioritize creativity and innovation with experienced teams.

Although we don’t yet know the specifics of de Plater’s D&D project, the mix of veteran talent and unrestricted creative freedom suggests tremendous potential. More broadly, it’s another example of a growing industry trend: when a project is canceled, its talent is quickly redirected into fresh ideas, ensuring valuable experience isn’t wasted.

Source: 3djuegos