D&D 5E Is 2014 official?

[Mercurius]

I keep seeing people saying something to the effect of "When Next comes out in 2014"...did I miss something? I haven't been paying that close attention but last I heard, there were no announcements made but speculations of either GenCon 2013 or 2014 for the 40th anniversary. Is 2014 now official?

 

[Szatany]

It's not official.
But both 2013 and 2015 are unlikely, so....

 

[keterys]

I believe there is no official date, but at multiple points they have indicated that 2014 is their preferred target, especially by/for Gen Con, and that they are taking long enough that people should not look for it in 2013 at all.

 

[Klaus]

At the Keynote Address at GenCon 2012, Mearls said DDN would still see about two years of playtest before release.

 

[M.L. Martin]

And checking Amazon for release dates suggests that unless they've managed to keep this very close to the vest, it won't be coming out until September 2013 at the earliest--and WotC has never released a new edition after GenCon. (3E was Aug/Sept./Oct.--and I think they regretted it when WW's Creature Collection beat the MM onto shelves--3.5 and 4E were both all three books in June, IIRC.)

 

[Stormonu]

Yes, its official. I got the UPS packing slip that expires Jan 31,2014 in the latest packet to pack up my 1E-4E books back to the WotC-Ninja Lawyers. If I don't use it, they come to my house.

I think most people are saying 2014 due to a comment by Mike about a 2-year test schedule and it marks the 40th anniversary.

 

[Mercurius]

So another year and a half of this? Jeez.

I suppose the last half year will be all hype and lead-up, maybe with a beta version document to have fun with about a year from now, but still...

 

[Ratinyourwalls]

So another year and a half of this? Jeez.

I suppose the last half year will be all hype and lead-up, maybe with a beta version document to have fun with about a year from now, but still...

No, we have no idea when the two years he was talking about officially started. It could be that D&DN is two months away and they did a ton of playtesting before giving us any of the info.

 

[delericho]

So another year and a half of this? Jeez.

That's actually a 'good case' scenario.

A worse outcome would be for some higher-up at WotC to decide they're losing too much money, and it needs to be released earlier... and before it is ready.

 

[delericho]

No, we have no idea when the two years he was talking about officially started. It could be that D&DN is two months away and they did a ton of playtesting before giving us any of the info.

We also don't know how long it will be from the 'end' of the playtesting to the release of the books. Given that they can't print the books instantaneously, there needs to be a cutoff point after which they can no longer accept feedback.

But I concur that 2014 is the most likely release year.