WotC Brand New D&D Video Game from WotC's New Acquisition Tuque Games

Tuque Games has announced it's working on a brand new D&/D video game. "We're developing a brand-new game based in the widely celebrated, enduring, and immensely popular Dungeons & Dragons universe. This yet to be announced title is steepled in classic D&D lore. We aspire to push this game to new heights for the genre. It’s an honour and a privilege to begin a new chapter for Dungeons & Dragons video games."

Not only that, but the company has been purchased by WotC! The press release went out earlier today:

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RENTON, Wash., Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), today announced that it has acquired Tuque Games, a digital game development studio based in Montreal. Tuque is led by veterans of the game industry with experience working for leading publishers. Tuque will continue the development of games for Wizards of the Coast's best-known brands, beginning with Dungeons & Dragons.

"At Wizards, we're continuing our commitment to creating new ways to bring our fan favorite brands to life," said Chris Cocks, President, Wizards of the Coast. "Our unique approach of connecting fans around the tabletop as well as through our expanding portfolio of digital games is redefining what it means to be a games company."

Founded in 2012 by Jeff Hattem, Tuque Games released their first title, Livelock, to critical acclaim in 2016. Now with over 55 full-time employees, Tuque will focus on the development of digital games based on the popular Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

"Tuque is thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of the Wizards of the Coast team," said Jeff Hattem, Founder, Tuque Games. "By working more closely together, we can accelerate our joint vision and bring to life new games, characters and worlds in Wizards of the Coast's roster of franchises."

"In Tuque, we believe we have found a unique partner that pairs the nimbleness of an indie studio with the veteran leadership and scale required to deliver complex AAA games for our largest franchises," said David Schwartz, VP of Digital Publishing, Wizards of the Coast. "We are excited to bring Jeff and the Tuque team to the Wizards of the Coast family, which we believe will allow us to continue to meet the needs of our fans while enabling us to scale our digital games development capabilities even faster."

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It seems there's a bit of a D&D video game renaissance going on. Baldur's Gate 3 is coming, as is Solasta: Crown of the Magister.

 

[Bohandas]

I have Livelock, it's an ok sci fi twin stick shooter. Maybe they'll go for a diablo type game?

Well most people seem to like Baldur's Gate, so that's a distinct possibility

 

[Curmudjinn]

That seems quite likely. With development tools being what they are now, it is actually relatively easy to create a first person game with realistic graphics, and slap a D&D label on it.

What I don't expect to see in this game are any rpg-elements. That is much harder to pull off.

I don't agree. There's nothing stopping a first person rpg from being as RP intensive or elaborate as an isometric/tactical/3rd person RPG. I like to think first person is more true to form of tabletop play.

That being said, when I see classic D&D game, I don't think of Baldurs Gate. I think of Slayer on the 3d0.

 

[Dausuul]

History might be deceiving: "past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance" has a positive edge. WotC is three plus years into new leadership, who has gaming and digital business experience.

That's a lot to put onto Chris Cocks. He's CEO of all of Wizards. He isn't going to be running Tuque hands-on.

On the other hand, I do have to admit that WotC's most recent in-house creation seems to have turned out very nicely. MtG: Arena has been quite well received. So perhaps Cocks really has made a difference on the digital side.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't agree. There's nothing stopping a first person rpg from being as RP intensive or elaborate as an isometric/tactical/3rd person RPG. I like to think first person is more true to form of tabletop play.

Apart from the amount of work required...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But you do not need to make a good AAA game in order to claim you are making a AAA game...

Touche sir/madam, touche!

You definitely have me there! I have admit you can definitely throw a lot of money at something and make a terrible AAA game (as the Star Citizen people are busy proving!).

Well most people seem to like Baldur's Gate, so that's a distinct possibility

You mean Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, right? Because that's verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry different Baldur's Gate, and Dark Alliance is the one that's a Diablo-style game (and I had great fun with friends and my wife on).

I have more faith they can achieve a AAA game than a good game: baby steps.

I mean, yeah, they can probably spend the money and get good artwork and stuff and decent music just by spending money. But sadly often leaves you with a game with beautiful character design, sometimes beautiful level art, and good music, which is unfortunately terrible (there was a whole spate of this with the various MOBA-shooters that failed - most were works of art in terms of visual design).

 

[Prakriti]

There's nothing stopping a first person rpg from being as RP intensive or elaborate as an isometric/tactical/3rd person RPG.

Yep. All the SSI goldbox games were first-person (except for battles). As was Eye of the Beholder. As were the Wizardry games, which were just as, if not more, complex than any D&D game. Plus Shining in the Darkness, Might & Magic, and many others that I'm forgetting.

First-person perspective was pretty much standard for dungeon-crawling RPGs in the 80's and 90's. It was only with the release of Baldur's Gate in 1998 that the isometric perspective started taking over.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Prakriti]

They are probably just going to remake Eamon.

In your heart, you know it's true.

Now with three colors of text!

Eh... I'd still play it.

 

[Parmandur]

That's a lot to put onto Chris Cocks. He's CEO of all of Wizards. He isn't going to be running Tuque hands-on.

On the other hand, I do have to admit that WotC's most recent in-house creation seems to have turned out very nicely. MtG: Arena has been quite well received. So perhaps Cocks really has made a difference on the digital side.

Oh, I certainly don't mean Cock's experience guarantees anything: however, the decision makers now are different than previously, and more experienced in this field.

Arena has been extremely successful, as you say, and that was an internal effort through and through.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Now I am trying to imagine a D&D as a asymmetric dungeon-crawler/tower defense. The defenders could put traps in the dungeons, floor, walls and roof.

We know e-sports are making money, but maybe D&D hasn't to be a true e-sport but e-game show, where the PCs should explore the dungeon, search traps and killing some monsters, but also resolving puzzles, talking with nPCs (for example the classic abducted princess or the noble king prison in a jail) and investigating clues. Some stories would be more like visual novels, where players only have to choose options like in a endless gamebook. Some youtubers would use this to produce videos like the modern version of puppets show. Somebody could create stop-motions videos with action figures and using augmented reality to add a screen like a chroma key.

Do you remember the cancelled videogames Breach and Shadow Realm? But now it wouldn't be the best moment because too many players would miss creating walls and roofs to add traps like in Fortnite: Save the World. But if Hasbro and Epic Games have got an agreement then the creative mode could be used for a "dungeon-crawling" adventure.


* Do you think board games and videogames will be mixed or fused in the future? let's imagine you buy a miniature, and this has a code to play with its virtual version. With electronic tablets and augmented reality (do you know the franchise Invizimals?) one player could play in sole mode, and an app in the mobile or tablet would be the IA of the monsters, the hidden traps, the flying enemies floating in the air, and the stats of all nPCs, even your warband or pack of monster pets. This app only would show like in a paper, but the player would have the true control, and even to use house-rule like acuity (astuteness+perception to find clues and fast answers) and courage as two new abilities scores (because it is a story set in the pulp age about investigating a Lovecraftian cult).


The age of the toys-to-life games (Sypro and Skylanders, Disney Infinity, LEGO dimensions) ended. Hasbro shouldn't try that type of game.

I say it time after time: if Hasbro wants shooter game with d20 system with different playable factions, someone with firearms and other with different tech or magic level, they will need a lot of playtesting to find the right balance of power, or nobody will want to play with that orc barbarian or elf archer without guns nor spellcasting.


I could bet Hasbro would like to can publish a d20 version of videogames as Street Fighter, Fortnite or Overwatch, but the system isn't ready for crossovers between different genres or franchises.