Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Christian Hoffer" data-source="post: 9615417" data-attributes="member: 6926473">[ATTACH=full]400108[/ATTACH]Sigil seems destined to a slow, spiraling demise after layoffs hit the team overseeing the project. Overnight, <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/90-of-d-d%E2%80%99s-project-sigil-team-laid-off.712430/" target="_blank">news broke</a> that approximately 90% of the team responsible for building Sigil, Wizards of the Coast's new VTT, was let go shortly after the system's public launch. The version of Sigil made available to the public was clearly a work in progress - not only did it require a computer with significant specs to run, it was also only available on Windows computers. The layoffs are the latest sign that Sigil was a solution in search of a problem, a project with no clear endgoal other than to serve as a shinier version of tools already existing for D&D players. EN World has reached out to Wizards for comment about the layoffs.Project Sigil was initially announced as part of the One D&D initiative back in August 2022. The VTT was supposed to serve as a new entry point for D&D, with cross compatibility with D&D Beyond and additional functionality with D&D's ruleset to make the game easier to play. However, even the initial announcement seemed to lack a strong elevator pitch, other than offering a shinier 3D VTT compared to Roll20 or Foundry. However, many players and D&D commentators immediately pointed out the likely monetization that came with this project, with miniatures, adventures, and even core classes all up for grabs in terms of microtransactions.[MEDIA=youtube]7RiRoslMaa0[/MEDIA]Sigil's development continued for over two years, with Wizards offering press and fans new looks at the in-development project at several high-profile events. A Gen Con D&D Live show utilized Sigil for a dragon vs. dragon encounter featuring Baldur's Gate 3 characters (played by their voice actors) caught in the middle. However, the use of Sigil stunted the live show experience, turning a boisterous and raunchy show into a lifeless technical glitch-filled slog. With the players focused on the computer and constantly calling for aid, it was a damning indictment of what Sigil could do to a D&D session.[MEDIA=youtube]Cn7XLBykzEU[/MEDIA]In early 2025, EN World was invited to a D&D press event at Wizards' headquarters in Renton, WA. The event included an hour-long look at Sigil, which was billed as more of a level builder than a traditional VTT. While the designers showed off how relatively easy it was to build a quick encounter within Sigil, they admitted that most tables wouldn't use the VTT to run every encounter. They also couldn't answer fundamental questions about the VTT, such as monetization or what the design goals for the VTT was. Again, it very much felt like a solution for a problem that hadn't been introduced. At one point, the designer noted that their plan for Sigil's development was largely dependent on what users actually wanted in the system and expressed hope that users could use the VTT for systems beyond D&D 5E. It was also pointed out to developers that there was significant crossover with Maps, a D&D Beyond feature that used 2D maps and tokens that seemed to be far easier to implement with the release of new D&D products. Other than acknowledging the overlap and stating that the two systems worked differently, there wasn't a clear answer as to why Wizards was developing two VTT-esque products at the same time.Sigil launched in February 2025 as something as a surprise. While a longer beta period was originally planned, the full launch of the project was instead announced via a 140-word press release. The project was limited to D&D Beyond subscribers, with a paid subscription needed to unlock full services. The strangely terse press release and muted launch had all the makings of a market dump - that Wizards of the Coast was cutting its losses after spending significant resources trying to build a system with no clear-cut audience or goal in mind.As of now, it's unclear how Sigil will be supported moving forward - will it roll out new set pieces and miniatures as new adventures and content with the upcoming Dragon Delves launch? Will it get any significant updates at all now that there's only a handful of employees left to work on the project? Or is Sigil destined to fade into obscurity, the latest in a series of failed online products headed by Wizards that was meant to launch alongside new editions. Only time will tell.</blockquote>

Verification