James Haeck Joins Wizards of the Coast as Senior D&D Designer

James Haeck, one of the co-writers of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, has joined Wizards of the Coast as a senior D&D designer. Haeck announced the news on Eldritch Lorecast, a podcast hosted by Ghostfire Gaming. Haeck is a prolific D&D designer, having worked as a freelancer on multiple Wizards of the Coast titles. They were involved with several Critical Role projects, including acting as the lead designer of Call of the Netherdeep and co-writer for Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. Haeck also worked as the lead writer for D&D Beyond for several years, working on various editorial projects that appeared on the front page before the site was purchased by Wizards of the Coast.

Haeck joins a roster of recent promotions and hires at Wizards of the Coast, which includes Justice Ramin Arman who is now game design director for the D&D studio. Other notable names at Wizards include F. Wesley Schneider, Makenzie De Armas, James Wyatt, and Amanda Hamon.

 

[bedir than]

En5iders will remember James Haek (they/them) as an early editor for the EN Publishing 5e magazine. Haek is leaving Ghostfire Gaming for WotC soon, per their recent announcement on the Eldritch Lorecast


They have previous credits at Wizards of the Coast, Critical Role, Darrington Press, MCDM, Ghostfire Gaming and EN Publishing.


edited to add preferred pronouns more significantly.

 

[el-remmen]

Hey good for them! That’s great! I haven’t watched the Lorecast in a while but I have nothing but good wishes for all of them.

 

[TiQuinn]

James has done good work on the Critical Role books, particularly Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. That’s great news!

 

[saviirkad]

This is outstanding news. I've been a fan of their work since they were lead writer on D&D Beyond.

 

[Marc Radle]

James also did quite a lot with Kobold Press.
Super happy to see him get the new job!!

 

[bedir than]

James also did quite a lot with Kobold Press.
Super happy to see him get the new job!!

Sorry I forgot that! Which projects were they on?

 

[bedir than]

Also, I didn't call it out specifically, but only used they/them because James uses those pronouns now.

I edited this post and the original to more fully call out James' preferred pronouns.

 

[darjr]

Congratulations!

 

[Knaves Quill]

I'm a bit more confident in future D&D products with James there now. They have some great design ideas, and their passion for the work is inspiring to see.