D&D General WotC’s newly announced “D&D Icons” line wins an award before making anything

The D&D Icons line was announced a few days ago at Gen Con. It has already won an award.

The award was Gaming Trend Best of Gen Con 2026. Gaming Trend is a gaming news website, which presents a 'Best of Gen Con' award each year.

As yet, nobody knows what the D&D Icons line actually is. Dragonlance’s Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman were introduced briefly on stage by actor Joe Manganiello, along with R.A. Salvatore, creator of Drizzt Do’Urden. No products were announced, however.

[Edit--one product was announced during the keynote at Gen Con: Greyhawk: Crown of the Witch Queen, although it is unclear whether this is part of the Icons line. Thanks to Mistwell for the reminder!]

Congratulations to the winners of this award. I guess. Well done!

 

[Nikosandros]

I think the whole thing has made me realize I ultimately don’t care about the branding and product lines as long as the books themselves are cool, but it was a very confusing, disjointed start to a marketing campaign.

I feel the same. Black label, white label, icons, drop-down menus, whatever... give me good material and I'm on board.

 

[Marc Radle]

"But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity."

Perfectly placed Rush lyric
Well done!

 

[mikeburke]

Strong “dude wanted a pic with Joe M” vibes. Also great to see they’ve started handing out puppies as part of the prize.

 

[DEFCON 1]

No one is going to care about how the presentation went six months from now when the products themselves start appearing for the conversation.

The same way no one cares how a baseball team's April and May went when the team is in a pennant race in September and October.

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

I know it's very popular to be outraged on the internet. And yes, I do admit that giving an award for something that hasn't yet born any fruit is...a curious choice. But I will say that I'm looking forward to seeing what Icons puts out.

As a lifelong D&D player of 45+ years, I really want to see a contemporary take on things like Greyhawk and Dragonlance. I've been playing every edition of D&D as it came out, starting with the Moldvay boxed sets, and I think the "technology" of D&D rules is better now than it ever has been. I say this despite my brief love affair with 4e. And as someone with a few (un-noteworthy) published D&D products under his belt, I look back at my old work and cringe, wishing I had done this or that differently. I'm sure big names like Weiss and Hickman feel the same way.

So bring it on, I say. I'll be there, up in the front row, waiting with anticipation.

Have a blessed day!

 

[Retreater]

In the spirit of being more positive on here, I'd rank the order of my excitement about the components of the keynote address:

1) [Most hyped] Dark Sun
2) [Ok, you have my attention] Star Wars
3) [Still a little excited] Greyhawk Adventure
4) [Meh] Icons
4.5) [Meh, but I knew it was coming already] WoW D&D
5) [Also Meh, but more Meh] Universes Beyond
6) [It's not for me] DND Beyond updates
7) [Also it's not for me, but more it's not for me] We're adding a new player to our actual play
8) [This could have been an email] Announcing the voice actor for an upcoming video game

I realize that the point of the keynote is that D&D will have "something for everybody," so our excitement tiers will likely look very different. For me, there isn't enough information about Icons for me to be excited or not excited. Honestly, I don't think they know what they want to do with it yet and are just throwing around marketing buzz words in an attempt to "test the market" to see if there's hype for a new product line. They have done this before. Disney, for example, loves doing this with planned and cancelled Star Wars movies as well.

Is it novels? Is it adventures? Is it a clothing line? Is it mature content? Is it classic stuff or new? (We may never know.)

 

[dave2008]

In the spirit of being more positive on here, I'd rank the order of my excitement about the components of the keynote address:

1) [Most hyped] Dark Sun
2) [Ok, you have my attention] Star Wars
3) [Still a little excited] Greyhawk Adventure
4) [Meh] Icons
4.5) [Meh, but I knew it was coming already] WoW D&D
5) [Also Meh, but more Meh] Universes Beyond
6) [It's not for me] DND Beyond updates
7) [Also it's not for me, but more it's not for me] We're adding a new player to our actual play
8) [This could have been an email] Announcing the voice actor for an upcoming video game

I realize that the point of the keynote is that D&D will have "something for everybody," so our excitement tiers will likely look very different. For me, there isn't enough information about Icons for me to be excited or not excited. Honestly, I don't think they know what they want to do with it yet and are just throwing around marketing buzz words in an attempt to "test the market" to see if there's hype for a new product line. They have done this before. Disney, for example, loves doing this with planned and cancelled Star Wars movies as well.

Is it novels? Is it adventures? Is it a clothing line? Is it mature content? Is it classic stuff or new? (We may never know.)

FYI, the Greyhawk adventure is the first product of the Icons line.

 

[mamba]

No one is going to care about how the presentation went six months from now when the products themselves start appearing for the conversation.

I guess by then we will not be discussing the presentation any more even if nothing was released in the meantime, sure, but for now the presentation is what we got

 

[sevenbastard]

I'd rank the order of my excitement about the components of the keynote address:

I would probably switch Universe Beyond and WoW, but otherwise I agree with your order.

But also I think you are missing Black Label?

Either way until we see the product its all just marketing hype.

 

[Retreater]

FYI, the Greyhawk adventure is the first product of the Icons line.

Guess I was a little confused about it.
Still, it follows my logic that we have a little details now about the Greyhawk adventure, which bumps it a rank above the "meh" of the rest of the undetailed Icons line.