D&D’s Wizards Of The Coast Reportedly Cancels Five Unannounced Games

Wizards of the Coast, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, has reportedly canceled five unannounced games alongside layoffs affecting “fewer than 15 people,” according to a new Bloomberg report. 

WotC employees who are going to lose their jobs may be offered a new job, but the apparent restructuring of WotC’s business operations will impact others. Bloomberg reports that this reorganization will hit Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment, both working on games for WotC, hard. News of this change follows the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance’s release last year, which didn’t fare too well with critics and players, amidst Larian Studios’ continued development on Baldur’s Gate 3 (which does not seem to be affected by this reorganization despite WotC serving as the game’s publisher). 

The two games were part of WotC’s wider foray into video gaming. Bloomberg Reports claim that WotC had entered into contracts to create games with several studios. The publication also stated that WotC had “built at minimum six” game studios. 

One project in the works that is now canceled went under the codename “Jabberwocky,” according to BloombergTwo more games that were developed externally are also no longer in development. This is because Hasbro shares dropped 40% last year. 

Wotc was told IGN The company stated it is “committed” to digital games and has made some adjustments to its long-term portfolio in order to “focus on strategically aligned games that are closely connected with the development of existing brands as well as those that show promise in engaging or expanding our audience.” 

[Source: Bloomberg]