Dungeons & Dragons: Warlock Video Game Announced by Invoke Studios

Invoke Studios, a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast, has announced Dungeons & Dragons: Warlock, a new video game due out for 2027. The game features a new character named Kaati, played by Tricia Helfer, and will be a third-person action-adventure game. Players will use spellcraft to "solve challenges and take down monsters" with players having some freedom in how they solve problems.

"We're not trying to simulate the tabletop RPG experience, so there is no dice-rolling in the game — we're trying to really deliver a video-game experience first," said Dominic Guay, studio lead at Invoke Studios, in an interview with IGN. "If you are not familiar with Dungeons and Dragons, you are not going to feel friction, like in that you're missing details of the world. But if you are a fan of the universe, you are going to be really excited about what we are doing with the lore of the series for Warlock."

Invoke Studios was previously called Tuque Games, and made the much-derided Dark Alliance game in 2021.

Gameplay will be revealed in 2026, with a planned release for 2027.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

But if it was "Bard" we could bring back rhythm games!

Or better yet, make a "Commoner" game! People can't relate to the super powered characters D&D produces these days. Let them be a regular person who gets caught up in adventure!

To be fair, the Bard has a fantastic set of games already.

 

[Charlaquin]

By which you mean not fetishizing the victimization of people who aren't straight white men, a demographic empowered in their own bigotry and pandering to by games media by Trump's election victory and the release of Baldur's Gate 3—a game that writes its sole black party member as inferior to a white man, women in positions of power as evil bitches, non-white people as savages who don't deserve happy endings, and queer men as sexual predators.

The kind of people who whine about Veilguard are pathetic garbage who would make the world a better place by staying in their basements and never coming out, if they're so offended by the existence of people other than themselves in fiction let alone reality.

Friend, I think you’ve misunderstood my position. I’m not whining about Veilguard, I’m defending it. Just because its writing is its weakest point (and I don’t think that’s even arguable) doesn’t mean its writing is terrible, and anyone who claims political correctness or whatever ruined the game has been duped by the YouTube grift mill. But those of us who like the game don’t do ourselves any favors by acting like it’s a masterpiece. It’s important to acknowledge that the writing is rough at points, just as much as it is to hilight the points where it shines.

 

[dalisprime]

Seems more like PotB weapon summon mechanic than hexblade, but there may be a mechanic where you choose your patron in the game

To me it gave more GOOlock vibes than anything else

The vibe I'm getting is a combination of blade summoning and the feather theme since hexblades were meant to be tied to the raven queen

 

[Selas]

The kind of people who whine about Veilguard are pathetic garbage who would make the world a better place by staying in their basements and never coming out, if they're so offended by the existence of people other than themselves in fiction let alone reality.

People are allowed to agree or disagree, like or dislike something based on their preferences, but that doesn't give you the right to speak in this way of and insult them because they disagree with you. Respect is a two-way street.

I dislike Veilguard because it makes a mockery of the previous DA games, all because their management kept chasing trends and restarting development so many times they had to rush things at the last second to make something workable. It's Anthem all over again.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Will nobody say any joke about warlocks' short rests?

My fear is if this future videogame is enoughly popular then the main character will appear in Rule34.

Will be a fun videogame? The industry is being affected because AAA titles need a lot of money and time, and there isn't space for the risk. Some indie titles are a success because those studios dared to create a different game.

I can understand the gameplay can't be 100% 5e rules but I would like it was closer, at least a close level-up.

It is OK the warlock class if some player wants to be the spellcaster bad boy but I don't like the idea this class could enjoy some special promotion.

* A cozy D&D videogame is possible, something like "Animula Nook". Maybe it could be set in Witchlight(Domains of Delight). Gnomes and halflings should be perfect for this.

* Do you think they could dare to release a videogame with a style like Dark Sun?

 

[Charlaquin]

My fear is if this future videogame is enoughly popular then the main character will appear in Rule34.

The entire joke about rules 34 and 35 is that it doesn’t matter if something is popular or not. If it exists, rule 34 covers it. If such content cannot be found for it, rule 35 states such content will be made for it.

 

[Zardnaar]

The entire joke about rules 34 and 35 is that it doesn’t matter if something is popular or not. If it exists, rule 34 covers it. If such content cannot be found for it, rule 35 states such content will be made for it.

Reference rule 34 and 35 are from?

 

[charlesatan]

The game is most likely not for me, but the bigger question here is whether Wizards of the Coast's strategy of being selective which companies get to adapt video games of their properties (as opposed to Games Workshop which basically lets anyone license their property, hence the signficantly large quantity of Warhammer games--a lot of which are just okay, but due to sheer volume, there have been some significant home runs) will pay off, as in the past two decades, their only hits have been Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3) and Codename Entertainment (Idle Champion of the Forgotten Realms) (and possibly Atari if you count the Facebook game Heroes of Neverwinter a success).

 

[Parmandur]

The game is most likely not for me, but the bigger question here is whether Wizards of the Coast's strategy of being selective which companies get to adapt video games of their properties (as opposed to Games Workshop which basically lets anyone license their property, hence the signficantly large quantity of Warhammer games--a lot of which are just okay, but due to sheer volume, there have been some significant home runs) will pay off, as in the past two decades, their only hits have been Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3) and Codename Entertainment (Idle Champion of the Forgotten Realms) (and possibly Atari if you count the Facebook game Heroes of Neverwinter a success).

Well, selective or permissive strategies aside, their current strategy is altogether different: instead of licensing to third party video game publishers, they have just built their own internal video game studios.

It's a bold bet, but probably the most viable approach longterm. It's what Adkinson wanted to do before Hasbro sold off all video game rights for everything they owned at once (though thst led to Neverwinter Bights and some other decent stuff).

 

[Charlaquin]

Reference rule 34 and 35 are from?

The rules of the internet. It’s an ancient meme (in the original sense of the word, not an image with comedic text) from 4Chan that I would imagine probably aged just as badly as everything from that era of the internet. It’s a very long list of “rules,” most of which are jokes and references only relevant to people who were in that social sphere at that time, but some of them have broken into the broader cultural consciousness, most notably rule 34, which is “if it exists, there is [adult content] of it.” Though to most folks now it’s just a euphemism for “adult oriented” fan art. Rule 35 was the corollary to Rule 34: “if [adult content] of it cannot be found, [adult content] of it will be made.” That one didn’t achieve the same broad cultural reach 34 did, but on the Chans, it was often invoked as a way to ask for the hivemind to either find or produce such content for a specific interest.

And for the record, I am deeply embarrassed that I know about any of this. The 2000s were a weird time to be a kid with internet access.