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.

 

[kayakingpoodle]

Could it be that WotC has decided in-person play should remain the focus?

Fingers crossed!

 

[Chaltab]

I would rather hope that's not the case. In person games are great but online is some people's only option. But they need to focus on supporting the platforms people are already on rather than trying to make one to kneecap them.

 

[kayakingpoodle]

I would rather hope that's not the case. In person games are great but online is some people's only option. But they need to focus on supporting the platforms people are already on rather than trying to make one to kneecap them.

A good VTT, also makes a good DTT.
When I had a DDB sub we used maps as a DTT at all but one game i was playing at the time. It was implemented several ways depending on the DM, and equipment available where we were playing.

 

[Zaukrie]

Could it be that WotC has decided in-person play should remain the focus?

I really don't get these posts. Lots of people can't. Nothing about a VTT stops this.

 

[cbwjm]

Could it be that WotC has decided in-person play should remain the focus?

I'm not sure about that, but maybe they've decided in-person play is their focus while supporting other VTT providers. They have a lot of roll20 assets that they've created so they might be thinking that's a better way forward for online play rather than their own bespoke system.

 

[mamba]

Could it be that WotC has decided in-person play should remain the focus?

I doubt it, I assume they concluded one of three things

• D&D is not big enough for their 3D VTT ambitions yet
• the technology is not ready / widespread enough yet
• the timing / economy is not right for it

and decided that for now the much less ambitious 2D Maps will have to do.

Depending on which of the above it is, they might try again in a few years. If they concluded that it is the D&D community that is too small or unsuitable then it will take longer or not happen again (I’d bet on taking longer in that case)

 

[Valetudo]

Eh I just think habro/wizards just doesn't fully understand digital products all that well. They have the same problem with their video games they make inhouse.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Eh I just think habro/wizards just doesn't fully understand digital products all that well. They have the same problem with their video games they make inhouse.

Yeah, I would think if they were to do this, it would be outsourced with product requirements set by the WoTC team.

 

[Stormonu]

I wonder how difficult it would be to extract the assets (minis, walls, etc.) for other (personal) uses. Or if any other product currently existing could even read them in.

 

[kayakingpoodle]

I wonder how difficult it would be to extract the assets (minis, walls, etc.) for other (personal) uses. Or if any other product currently existing could even read them in.

It is likely against the TOS, I haven't downloaded it(it won't run on any of my machines) but every wotc TOS I have read leads me to this conclusion.