Wizards of the Coast Is Sunsetting Sigil's Active Development

EN World has received confirmation that Wizards of the Coast is planning to transition Sigil, its just-released VTT, to a D&D Beyond feature with no large future development planned. Earlier this week, Wizards of the Coast laid off approximately 30 staff members tied to the development of Sigil, a new D&D-focused VTT system. Ahead of the layoff, Dan Rawson, senior vice president of Dungeons & Dragons, sent out an internal email confirming that the project was essentially being shuttered. Rascal was the first to report the news and EN World was able to independently confirm the accuracy of their report.

The email can be read below:

Dear Team, I want to share an important update regarding Sigil. After several months of alpha testing, we’ve concluded that our aspirations for Sigil as a larger, standalone game with a distinct monetization path will not be realized. As such, we cannot maintain a large development effort and most of the Sigil team will be separated from the company this week. We are, however, proud of what the Sigil team has developed and want to make sure that fans and players on DDB can use it. To that end, we will transition Sigil to a DDB feature. We will maintain a small team to sustain Sigil and release products already developed at no additional cost to users. To those moving on as a result of this decision, we will provide robust support, including severance packages, 2024 bonus, career placement services, and internal opportunities where possible.

I want to take a moment to praise the entire Sigil team for their incredible work to deliver this product to our community. One of the things I’m most proud of here at D&D is our strong sense of purpose. We aim to honor our current players while ensuring D&D continues to build connections and bring joy to future generations. And that’s what the Sigil team was doing. Although we haven’t fully realized our vision for Sigil to scale, the team should be proud of their achievements.”

A full breakdown of Sigil's tumultous development can be found here. Rascal has several additional details about recent events that led to Sigil's early demise.

 

[Chaltab]

These days that's not workable for a VTT that's often played on 1080p at a minimum. Something like a Steam Deck gets away with running at 800p (or less), but that's because it's a handheld on a 7" screen. Not something you would run a VTT on...

I have. Obviously not the point of the post overall, but Foundry actually works pretty well on Steam Deck if you're just playing.

DMing would be a pain though.

 

[Cergorach]

@tetrasodium @Chaltab There are people that play doom on their refrigerator display... That ain't normal, it's possible, just not normal.

A display for just images (maps) is different from having a full character sheet that needs to be readable on half a screen, there's a reason why Valve marks games for their Steam Deck with "Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read." and not mark them 'Verified' when they have this issue. Why browser VTTs like Roll20 recommend 1080p and FVTT requires 1366x768. Can it work on less, yes! Is there a reason why the recommend/require it, yes!

Foundry works perfectly fine and within spec when you dock you Steam Deck to a 1080p display. 4k isn't a requirement, but it's pretty darned common these days!

 

[KYRON45]

It feels like WoTC just doesn't know what to do with D&D at all.
It's the most popular kid in school it still feels like its walking around in the dark trying to find someone to take it to the prom.
Get it together already WotC.

 

[Valetudo]

I'm not shocked. Maybe they should have used it to sell dnd beyond from the start instead of competing against their own product. But wizards management love shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[tetrasodium]

@tetrasodium @Chaltab There are people that play doom on their refrigerator display... That ain't normal, it's possible, just not normal.

A display for just images (maps) is different from having a full character sheet that needs to be readable on half a screen, there's a reason why Valve marks games for their Steam Deck with "Some in-game text is small and may be difficult to read." and not mark them 'Verified' when they have this issue. Why browser VTTs like Roll20 recommend 1080p and FVTT requires it. Can it work on less, yes! Is there a reason why the recommend/require it, yes!

Foundry works perfectly fine and within spec when you dock you Steam Deck to a 1080p display. 4k isn't a requirement, but it's pretty darned common these days!

You make it sound like anything below 4k is limited to displaying the eye chart's E. Do you actually have experience with the subject of running a vtt as part of your session while gm'ing?Notice the paper sheets? It's also possible to have player character sheets on their own cellphone with some vtts.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

But wizards management love shooting themselves in the foot.

How come? I'm sure there's lots of people who'd be willing to do it for them.

 

[SteveC]

It feels like WoTC just doesn't know what to do with D&D at all.
It's the most popular kid in school it still feels like its walking around in the dark trying to find someone to take it to the prom.
Get it together already WotC.

I feel the same way. I'm a huge baseball fan, so I'm going to use a baseball analogy. I'm a Milwaukee Brewers fan, and several times in the last few years, I've seen our rival teams just give up and not look to improve themselves long before the division or the wild card spots had been decided. These were teams (and I'm specifically thinking of the Cubs and the Cardinals) with much bigger markets and deeper pockets than my lowly Brewers. It felt so strange, and I wondered what their fan base thought when they basically conceded the division for the year so early.

WotC had a plan for growth for D&D, marketing it as an online product. You get D&D Beyond, use the marketplace there and open it up to select third parties, and push everyone to playing on Sigil. I didn't necessarily like that plan, but I understood it. What's the plan now? They've removed the books from shelves of stores like Walmart and Target, so playing the game in person with books is harder. I suspect that they are going to get the new Starter Set into those places, but you leave people with no product to buy after that first one ... not a good plan (and I say that in a Tony Stark voice).

Obviously it's just my opinion, and who am I? No one. But I see WotC letting the small market ball clubs, the Paizos, the MCCMs, the Shadowdarks, have an opening to step up. Maybe they will execute a pivot and this post will look really foolish, and in that case, I'm happy to do a mea culpa. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[popuman]

I bet Chris Cocks and his fellow Hasbnro executives will get their bonuses.

 

[Chaltab]

I bet Chris Cocks and his fellow Hasbnro executives will get their bonuses.

Y'ain't wrong.

 

[KYRON45]

I feel the same way. I'm a huge baseball fan, so I'm going to use a baseball analogy. I'm a Milwaukee Brewers fan, and several times in the last few years, I've seen our rival teams just give up and not look to improve themselves long before the division or the wild card spots had been decided. These were teams (and I'm specifically thinking of the Cubs and the Cardinals) with much bigger markets and deeper pockets than my lowly Brewers. It felt so strange, and I wondered what their fan base thought when they basically conceded the division for the year so early.

WotC had a plan for growth for D&D, marketing it as an online product. You get D&D Beyond, use the marketplace there and open it up to select third parties, and push everyone to playing on Sigil. I didn't necessarily like that plan, but I understood it. What's the plan now? They've removed the books from shelves of stores like Walmart and Target, so playing the game in person with books is harder. I suspect that they are going to get the new Starter Set into those places, but you leave people with no product to buy after that first one ... not a good plan (and I say that in a Tony Stark voice).

Obviously it's just my opinion, and who am I? No one. But I see WotC letting the small market ball clubs, the Paizos, the MCCMs, the Shadowdarks, have an opening to step up. Maybe they will execute a pivot and this post will look really foolish, and in that case, I'm happy to do a mea culpa. Wouldn't be the first time.

I'm pretty indifferent about WotC. I like D&D because its what i've always played and don't care what comes next. It's still difficult for me to watch the company flounder the way it does. And you have to ask yourself....doesn't WoC buy these smaller ball clubs and make them part of the family?

How long can they rely on brand recognition alone? In this humble mans opinion it's time for the company to embrace the fact that we're 25 years into the century and for the most part they still seem like they are having a hard time keeping up. Don't get me started on how they love to recycle 50 year old material. Get some younger talent in there and MAKE NEW THINGS!!!

What do i know? I'm just bored at work and rambling.