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.

 

[mamba]

A 3D VTT is a great idea, just not for a lot of us hanging around here. It has great growth and revenue potential. But it needed to stay way longer in the oven, it needed to release optimized, for more platforms with more content. This should not have been a couple of years 'get rich quick' scheme, it should have been a 10-20 year project.

Do we know how long they actually took / when they started with it? 10-20 years is way too long to get to a product. The VTT was not done when they made it available, so it does look like a 4-5 year project, which should be long enough. What killed it was most likely lack of interest and the whole thing taking longer than planned, there is no way it was not way behind schedule

 

[Parmandur]

Do we know how long they actually took / when they started with it? 10-20 years is way too long to get to a product. The VTT was not done when they made it available, so it does look like a 4-5 year project, which should be long enough. What killed it was most likely lack of interest and the whole thing taking longer than planned, there is no way it was not way behind schedule

They were supposed to start a love Bwta as of.l, like late 2023...so yeah they were behind. Lack of a clear path to monetization probavly also hurt it. Beyond and hence Maps , on the other hand, have a clear revenue stream that has been accepted by players.

 

[Cergorach]

Do we know how long they actually took / when they started with it? 10-20 years is way too long to get to a product.

I mean the project needed 10-20 years to reach a level where it would be mature for revenue generation. Not from start to the core product is out. That should have been released when it was actual ready. In a big enterprise/multinational environment that could easily take half a year...

Smaller businesses are far more agile in their development in my experience. I've experienced it myself where I did migrations for small businesses in two weeks, while for an Enterprise it two almost two years, the biggest issue wasn't more users, it was more way connected systems that needed upgrading/integration and internal politics/processes. The rumours of the Sigil team having issues with the DDB team are absolutely worth a double facepalm, but they are also so familiar...

 

[tetrasodium]

I mean the project needed 10-20 years to reach a level where it would be mature for revenue generation. Not from start to the core product is out. That should have been released when it was actual ready. In a big enterprise/multinational environment that could easily take half a year...

Smaller businesses are far more agile in their development in my experience. I've experienced it myself where I did migrations for small businesses in two weeks, while for an Enterprise it two almost two years, the biggest issue wasn't more users, it was more way connected systems that needed upgrading/integration and internal politics/processes. The rumours of the Sigil team having issues with the DDB team are absolutely worth a double facepalm, but they are also so familiar...

If their goals were so high that they needed a decade or two of development in order for them to reach a point where revenue generation is in the cards it's a sure sign that they have set an unreasonable stage one target. Launch platforms to send people and objects into space have a shorter cycle

 

[Queer Venger]

hope reigns for those of us old timers who prefer to gather around a table and tell stories with pizza.
Alas another wotc epic fail.

 

[Zaukrie]

hope reigns for those of us old timers who prefer to gather around a table and tell stories with pizza.
Alas another wotc epic fail.

How does other people who live far apart getting to play hurt you? What is your hope, that others can't play?

 

[Queer Venger]

How does other people who live far apart getting to play hurt you? What is your hope, that others can't play?

hey, you need to step back and not take this personally.
I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am. I don't know where you live and why you can't find a group or start a game or join a community. I do run games online (discord) so please don't be reactive, make assumptions and be angry...

Know the words of Queer Venter:
"I have a dream, a dream where everyone plays D&D, where we tell stories gathered together by candle light or by pizza."

 

[Zaukrie]

hey, you need to step back and not take this personally.
I don't know who you are and you don't know who I am. I don't know where you live and why you can't find a group or start a game or join a community. I do run games online (discord) so please don't be reactive and angry.

Know the words of Queer Venter:
"I have a dream, a dream where everyone plays D&D, where we tell stories gathered together by candle light or by pizza."

Not personally. I don't understand your hope. Hence the question. I have both a local and virtual game.

 

[Queer Venger]

Not personally. I don't understand your hope. Hence the question. I have both a local and virtual game.

good for you.
your 'question' came across as a reaction.

Hope Ive given you what you 'answer' my friend.

 

[Incenjucar]

The ability to run personal games forever is pretty great, but a lot of folks don't get to play the hobby without digital options, for a variety of reasons including health.

PNP play is a big perk of the system, but a lot of good times can only occur because of online options.