Hasbro-owned Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has understood to have cancelled as many as five video game projects related to the beloved tabletop RPG and popular CCG Magic the Gathering.
As reported by Bloomberg, the cancellations come as WotC scales back its video game investments. Speaking to Jason Schrier, Hasbro told Bloomberg it was making “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.”
That’s a very long way to say, “We know we tipped a lot of money into this, but we’ve actually changed our minds.”
The cancellations come not all that long after the company made lots of noise about its video game investments, signing contracts with numerous publishers and putting up the capital to create as many as six of its own studios in the last few years. So far, things have not gone according to plan. 2021’s Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance was a critical and commercial disappointment. Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 appears to be on a better trajectory, its early access period meeting with strong positive feedback from fans and critics alike. Larian expects to launch later this year.
Schrier’s report states that fewer than 15 jobs at WotC will be impacted, but the cancellations will be hardest felt by the external studios working on games for WotC. Boston-based Otherside Entertainment and Bellevue, Washington-based Hidden Path Entertainment were both actively working on games for the company. WotC’s growth in the last five years has come from an explosion in popularity around Dungeons & Dragons, and an aggressive acceleration of its Magic the Gathering release schedule. The company’s growth stands in contrast to that of its parent company, with Hasbro shares falling 40% in 2022 as inflation led to a sharp downturn in toy sales.
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