Forgotten Realms Books to Have Several Digital DLCs, Including One Featuring Asterion

Wizards of the Coast plans to release several "digital DLCs" alongside the upcoming Forgotten Realms rulebooks. This week, Game Informer released a pair of articles about the upcoming Forgotten Realms rulebooks. Tucked away in the article is the announcement that the upcoming releases will include several "digital DLCs" that expand on the new setting. One example was Asterion's Book of Hungers, which focuses on urban vampire adventures featuring the character from Baldur's Gate 3.

No other details were made available about the upcoming releases, such as whether the new supplements will be paid DLC or free to D&D Beyond subscribers. Wizards has released several digital-only supplements alongside their various books, ranging from mini-bestiaries to supplementary adventures, but all were free to D&D Beyond subscribers or available as pre-order bonuses.

Since the Forgotten Realms books aren't currently available for pre-order, it's hard to say whether this is a new strategy or simply a continuation of current works. The fact that Wizards commissioned art specifically for Asterion's Book of Hungers and the usage of the phrase "digital DLC" suggests that this might be a new monetization scheme for the company, albeit one that makes sense given the growing use of D&D Beyond's marketplace.

 

[Selas]

Great to hear that last part. You may want to cross post that to the DLC thread, as people were already getting preemptively upset over the possibility they may not be.

Which DLC thread?

Edit: cross-posted!

 

[Demetrios1453]

Which DLC thread?

The one we're in lol. Switching between so many FR threads today, I thought we were in another one. Sorry about that!

 

[pukunui]

So they're gonna use that name for the Item section in the new books? Kinda neat reference.

Also, the digital expansions will be sold separately once the FR books come out for the people only interested in those; there's a thread in DDB confirming it.

I see a DDB staff member has also confirmed in that thread that the DLCs are included in the digital only preorder bundle as well. I'll be going with that since I want to get the alt covers for these.

 

[mamba]

Also, the digital expansions will be sold separately once the FR books come out for the people only interested in those; there's a thread in DDB confirming it.

and it's a whopping $30 cheaper... pretty expensive for a digital bundle... I assume the books will be $30 each, which leaves three expansions at $20 each. How does that add up?

 

[Parmandur]

and it's a whopping $30 cheaper... pretty expensive for a digital bundle... I assume the books will be $30 each, which leaves three expansions at $20 each. How does that add up?

Yeah, my level of interest is in check until we get more solid details on content, pricing, etc.