Jeremy Crawford Also Leaving D&D Team Later This Month

jeremy crawford.jpg


Jeremy Crawford is leaving Wizards of the Coast later this month. Screen Rant (via me!) had the exclusive announcement. Crawford was the Game Director for Dungeons & Dragons and was one of the guiding forces for D&D over the past decade. In the past year, Crawford has focused on the core rulebooks and leading the team of rules designers. He has also been a face of Dungeons & Dragons for much of 5th Edition, appearing in many promotional videos and DMing Acquisitions Incorporated Actual Play series.

He joins Chris Perkins in leaving the D&D team in recent weeks. Perkins, who was the Creative Director for D&D, announced his retirement last week. Both Perkins and Crawford appear to have left Wizards on their terms, with Lanzillo very effusive with her praise of both men and their contribution in our interview.

On a personal note, I've enjoyed interviewing Jeremy over the years. He was always gracious with his time and answers and is one of the most eloquent people I've ever heard talk about D&D. I'll miss both him and Chris Perkins and look forward to their next steps, wherever that might be.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer

I vaguely remember that from discussions that were on the WoTC boards at the time.

You could see elements of proto 4E in 2004 in hindsight. 2006 my 3.5 purchases slowed a lot as the books were becoming very niche so stopped buying them. Eg Complete Mage/Psion (bought) did not buyBo9S. Weapons of Legacy, Races of books, Tome of Magic etc.
 

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Many D&D designers do exatly that. Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet made 13th Age. Rob Schwalb made Shadow of the Weird Wizard. Monte Cook made Numenera. Rodney Thompson made Dusk City Outlaws.

Why must they currently work for WOTC for us to pay attention to the games they clearly wanted to make?

Because even if you buy them finding players is a PITA.

Numenera made a beautiful book end. Fantastic condition never used.
 

I wonder how true that is, or whether this is as with Kickstarters where you have a low funding goal so you can brag how fast you 'funded', esp. since D&D revenue basically stayed flat in 2024 compared to 2023.

In any case, I found the quote, so for future reference here is what WotC said about 2024 sales so far in their quarterly statements (and their digital share, which I find interesting as well)

Q2: "Within D&D, we’re seeing solid pre-orders of the 2024 Core Rules book for the revised and expanded Fifth Edition. D&D also shows how we are increasing digitization across our portfolio. Digital revenue already accounts for over half of the mix due to the success of D&D Beyond."

Q3: "For D&D, the updated Player’s Handbook for fifth edition is now our fastest selling product in D&D’s 50-year history, beating plan by over 50%. And our acquisition of D&D Beyond continues to pay off, driving D&D’s total mix of direct-to-consumer revenue from zero at the time of acquisition to 60% today, with registered users more than doubling to 19 million."

Q4: "D&D released the first significant update to 5th Edition since 2014 and closed out the year strong with both the new Players Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide breaking records for the best-selling D&D books ever.

D&D is also set up to continue its recent momentum. This week we released the widely anticipated 2025 Monster Manual with strong initial orders."
There is no counter indicators thst sales or reception have been poor soooo...
 



Because even if you buy them finding players is a PITA.

Numenera made a beautiful book end. Fantastic condition never used.
I disagree with this. I have bought tons of books, even whole lines of game expansions I never intended to play. Numenera is really interesting. But I bought it pre release at Gencon with Cooke signing it. But its BEAUTIFUL. I bought SOulbound from C7 knowing I would NEVER play it. Again its a beautiful book. So yes Numenera HAS been a bookend of sorts but I enjoy taking it off the shelf and studying the system or art. It has other intrinsic values.
 

You could see elements of proto 4E in 2004 in hindsight. 2006 my 3.5 purchases slowed a lot as the books were becoming very niche so stopped buying them. Eg Complete Mage/Psion (bought) did not buyBo9S. Weapons of Legacy, Races of books, Tome of Magic etc.
I bought the Environment guides because I REALLY like adding environmental concerns. But I didn't buy any race books, or Weapons books. I lost touch with the last 2 years of releases but I wish I got the full Monster Manual Line.
 

I disagree with this. I have bought tons of books, even whole lines of game expansions I never intended to play. Numenera is really interesting. But I bought it pre release at Gencon with Cooke signing it. But its BEAUTIFUL. I bought SOulbound from C7 knowing I would NEVER play it. Again its a beautiful book. So yes Numenera HAS been a bookend of sorts but I enjoy taking it off the shelf and studying the system or art. It has other intrinsic values.

No regrets buying it. Same reason as you.
 


Many D&D designers do exatly that. Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet made 13th Age. Rob Schwalb made Shadow of the Weird Wizard. Monte Cook made Numenera. Rodney Thompson made Dusk City Outlaws.

Why must they currently work for WOTC for us to pay attention to the games they clearly wanted to make?
All great designers and great games!

Who says we only have to pay attention to the games coming from WotC? Not I.

But, IMO, WotC makes great games, and also innovates with many of their D&D books each year.
 

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