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D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast has reportedly canceled five games

New reports indicate that Wizards of the coast is scaling back its gaming business.

Donovan Erskine

January 4, 2023 7:00 AM

Wizards of the Coast

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Dungeons & Dragons has grown to be quite the valuable entertainment property over the years. The profoundly influential tabletop RPG has seen many adaptations under publisher Wizards of the Coast, who also owns Magic: The Gathering. That said, fans may need to temper their expectations when it comes to the future of video games based on properties from the publisher. A new report states that Wizards of the Coast has quietly canceled at least five video game projects as it begins to scale back on its gaming efforts.

The report comes from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. While the company hasn’t explicitly stated so, a spokesperson provided a statement to Bloomberg in which they said the company has “made some 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.”

Most recently, D&D received the video game treatment with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. These titles were part of the “seven or eight” D&D games that the company said were in development during an interview with Gamesindustry.biz back in 2019. It now appears that several of these titles will not see the light of day.

Schreier also shared that the D&D and Magic: The Gathering publisher has also eliminated several positions at the company, and that just under 15 workers will lose their jobs. The spokesperson said that those affected will have the chance to apply to different roles at the company.

Since Wizards of the Coast never formally revealed these titles, we may never know what could have been. As for games that are still on track for release, Baldur’s Gate 3 will fully launch this August after spending years in early access. For more on the publishing efforts of Wizards of the Coast, stick with Shacknews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_