D&D's Lack of 2026 Announcements Actually Follows Precedent

Dungeons & Dragons fans seem to have short memories based on the number of speculative articles wondering why Wizards of the Coast hasn't announced any new books for next year. Over the past few weeks, various D&D blogs have speculated about the lack of 2026 announcements. Yes, Wizards of the Coast has underwent some internal turmoil this year, with a number of higher-ups tied to D&D leaving the company and replacements only named relatively recently. And yes, Wizards of the Coast was also hit by a series of delays for various books, with Eberron: Forge of the Artificer bouncing from a summer 2025 release to December due to a printing defect. However, neither of these are likely the reason why Wizards hasn't announced their 2026 slate. In fact, all one has to do is look at the timing of the 2025 announcements to take a deep breath.

Entering 2025, Dungeons & Dragons players only knew of one confirmed release - the 2025 Monster Manual tied to the core rulebooks. A D&D Direct in August 2024 revealed some rough timelines for two other D&D products, but specifics weren't revealed at that time. The rest of the 2025 D&D slate was announced at an embargoed press conference held at Wizards of the Coast's Renton headquarters in January 2025. Most major nerd press outlets, including EN World, were invited to the event. At the event, Dragon Delves, Eberron: Forge of the Artificer, and the Forgotten Realms books were all announced, as was the Starter Set box. The Stranger Things book was also teased as a "mystery" product.

Based on Unearthed Arcana playtests, it appears that the 2026 books will include a Dark Sun book featuring a new Psion class (the first new D&D class in over five years) and a book featuring several arcane subclasses. Wizards has also yet to release a campaign adventure based on the 2024 ruleset. However, the lack of any announcements shouldn't be concerning at all, as this is precisely what Wizards did in 2025 as well.

We'll also point out that D&D has a relatively new marketing manager (Blain Howard, who replaced Greg Tito) and a new PR firm (Tara Bruno PR, replacing 360 PR) for the D&D tabletop group, so any lack of announcements such as the lack of a D&D Direct may be tied to a retooled marketing strategy rather than any other prognosticator of other factors.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Thing is, Hasbro pulled D&D out of the book channel, and now sell it as a game...dofferent stream. Amazon does not catsgorize new D&D books as "books".

But really what WotC is focused on now is direct sales, apparently D&D Beyond physical & digital copies are like 66% of sales now.

Yep and it most me alot because they did that which could cost them future business from me because they did so. Books would have been duty/tarriff free, games aren't, they didn't think it through at all.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I do think the complaining about this is another example of the entitlement mentality. People seem to think they have a right to know.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't believe this article is correct at all. In August 2024, WotC announced six books (the 2024 DMG, the 2024 Monster Manual, Dragon Delves, the Heroes of the Borderlands D&D Starter Set, Heroes of Faerun and Adventures in Faerun). The names may have changed after the announcement, but they essentially previewed most of the year's books. In August 2025 we not only didn't have a D&D Direct we have had no confirmation on ANYTHING from Wizards of the Coast.

Yeah, we are more in the dark than we have been for a few years... But not without precedent in most of 5E release history

 

[Parmandur]

Yep and it most me alot because they did that which could cost them future business from me because they did so. Books would have been duty/tarriff free, games aren't, they didn't think it through at all.

Ooof.

 

[bedir than]

Books would have been duty/tarriff free, games aren't, they didn't think it through at all.

The reclassification happened well before anyone thought that the tariff war would be a reality.
It's not Hasbro's fault that they didn't read the future.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The reclassification happened well before anyone thought that the tariff war would be a reality.
It's not Hasbro's fault that they didn't read the future.

They could have changed it after it hit.

 

[Parmandur]

The reclassification happened well before anyone thought that the tariff war would be a reality.
It's not Hasbro's fault that they didn't read the future.

Yeah, the motivation seems to have been to stop Amazon's ability to undermine other retailers, now that WotC is "other retsilers" themselves.

They could have changed it after it hit.

Easier said than done...

 

[bedir than]

They could have changed it after it hit.

I'm also unconvinced that the classification within Amazon impacts the classification for tariffs.

It's still a physical book when Customs looks at it.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I'm also unconvinced that the classification within Amazon impacts the classification for tariffs.

It's still a physical book when Customs looks at it.

@Henadic Theologian is speaking from direct experience of being charged an extra, unexpected fee, when receiving product directly from WotC.

However, it's actually the "fault" of the shipping companies (combined with the Canadian border agency) and has very little, AFAICT, to do with WotC or how they designate the books on Amazon.

IF the Canadian border agency asks, the shipping company (doesn't matter these days AFAIK if it's Canpar, FedEx, UPS, Purolator, or whatever) to fill out "extra paperwork", that company charges the final destination a fee. A far too expensive (IMO) fee.

So if the border reasonably asks "Did WotC charge GST on HT's shipment of FRHoF & FRAiF?" It doesn't matter if the answer is "Yes", but it's probably "No", as WotC isn't Canadian and doesn't GAF about Canada's GST. So (let's say UPS) charges HT $25 for the "Service" of then also charging the (let's say) $11 worth of GST that HT didn't pay on his FR Ultimate Bundle. So he pays $160 USD (plus $64 exchange to get it into CAD) plus whatever WotC charged in shipping $30?), plus the exchange on that, plus $36 CAD in "Surprise!" fees at his door before they'll hand it over. Possibly worse. You'd have to ask HT if there was something I'm missing. Like possibly counter-tariffs.

I've personally seen it as high as 80% of the original cost, so you end up paying almost double what you expected when you bought the thing.

It's really easy to blame WotC - I know that I won't buy anything from them (in that fashion) for the same reason, nor frankly any other US company if I can avoid it. But I've learned that it's not really their "fault". It's how stupid cross-border shipping has become.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm also unconvinced that the classification within Amazon impacts the classification for tariffs.

It's still a physical book when Customs looks at it.

Well, he is speaking from experience, because he got hit with non-book tarriffs when he bought the Forgotten Realms books direct from WotC in Canada.