D&D 5E (2024) Predict WotC's 2026 D&D releases

[mamba]

Rapidly rising printing costs plus tariffs.

are they rapidly rising? WotC is in a better position than pretty much any other TTRPG publisher to keep them low

The majority of sales is digital by now too, so those would not be affected either

 

[mamba]

WotC would typically release one product in 1st quarter. We have 5 3PP on DDB. That is way more aggressive.

more aggressive than their own release schedule, sure, that is not hard. Not more aggressive than their 3pp schedule from last year, so it cannot compensate for a lack of official releases relative to the ones from last year

 

[Paul Farquhar]

are they rapidly rising?

Oh yes, very much so. See the price increases in POD services. Shipping costs too.

WotC is in a better position than pretty much any other TTRPG publisher to keep them low

Other publishers have much smaller print runs, so have more options for choice of printer. You have a big print run, you need a big printer.

The majority of sales is digital by now too, so those would not be affected either

Which is the thing. It would make life much easier for WotC to take D&D mostly digital. But it would also upset a large portion of their player base. Even making digital prices significantly lower than print, or digital realises significantly earlier, would cause a lot of anger, and put FLGs out of business. And WotC needs them, especially for MtG.

 

[mamba]

Oh yes, very much so.. See the price increases in POD services. Shipping costs too.
Other publishers have much smaller print runs, so have more options for choice of printer.

DDB raised the PoD in the US, the rest of the world barely budged, sounds like something WotC is in a good position on, they can print wherever

Small print runs may be able to choose between more printers, but they will pay more per book than a large print run, and WotC can split the run across multiple printers. I don’t think anyone in the RPG space can print a (comparable) book cheaper than they can. Maybe you can if you print B&W

Which is the thing. It would make life much easier for WotC to take D&D mostly digital. But it would also upset a large portion of their player base.

I am not sure about the latter… were they to drop books, yes, still too many for that, but they are ‘mostly digital’ already, it’s just that ‘mostly’ right now is closer to 60% than 90%

 

[Echohawk]

WotC would typically release one product in 1st quarter. We have 5 3PP on DDB. That is way more aggressive.

Right, but it isn't more aggressive than the 3PP release schedule for 2025. Last year WotC released 7 print products and 19 3PP products on DDB.

My point is that if the 3PP DDB releases are supposed to be doing the heavy lifting in 2026 because of a reduced WotC print schedule, I would expect the 3PP release schedule for 2026 to be more aggressive than it was in 2025. Instead, for Q1 at least, it is about the same.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Right, but it isn't more aggressive than the 3PP release schedule for 2025. Last year WotC released 7 print products and 19 3PP products on DDB.

And we have 5 announced only 1/12 of the way through the year. Last year hardly any of the 3PP on DDB got much advanced publicity. So that is markedly different.

It's also notable that release schedules for everyone ramp up towards the end of the year (and Christmas) and Q1 is a lull, since everyone spent all their money. The only exceptions have been when things products scheduled for Q4 have been delayed.

My point is that if the 3PP DDB releases are supposed to be doing the heavy lifting in 2026 because of a reduced WotC print schedule, I would expect the 3PP release schedule for 2026 to be more aggressive than it was in 2025. Instead, for Q1 at least, it is about the same.

When you have nothing else you have to go with what you have. But it's not a matter of getting them through the whole year, it's a matter of getting them through the first quarter.

 

[Reynard]

Let's assume that Dark Sun is coming. What quarter would that drop in?

And, do you think it will be a Big Fat Setting Book, or do you think it will be a Slipcase Adventure/Setting?

 

[mamba]

Let's assume that Dark Sun is coming. What quarter would that drop in?

third

And, do you think it will be a Big Fat Setting Book, or do you think it will be a Slipcase Adventure/Setting?

no slipcase, either one book with a bit of setting, like Dragonlance, or (my preference) two books like the FR ones.

The second one would be an AP, there are not enough regions to make gazetteers for

 

[Reynard]

third


no slipcase, either one book with a bit of setting, like Dragonlance, or (my preference) two books like the FR ones

I would be surprised if they went that route out the gate, but we'll see.

 

[Azzy]

Let's assume that Dark Sun is coming. What quarter would that drop in?

And, do you think it will be a Big Fat Setting Book, or do you think it will be a Slipcase Adventure/Setting?

I hope that they're no longer doing those slipcases.