WotC WotC Cancels 5 Video Games

While D&D itself seems to be still growing rapidly nearly 10 years after the launch of 5th Edition, WotC has recently scaled back its video game plans, costing up to 15 people their jobs, although they may be able to relocate within the company. WotC spoke to Bloomberg and told the site that they were "still committed to using digital games" and that the change in plans was designed to focus on "games which are strategically aligned with developing our existing brands and those which show promise in expanding or engaging our audience in new ways."

Studios working on games for WotC include Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment. WotC owns 6 video game studios in various cities according to CEO Cynthia Williams in an interview with GeekWire.

We’ve announced six different studios that are first-party and owned. There’s Archetype in Austin that’s working on a sci-fi game that we’re really excited about. It’s a new IP.

You’ve got Atomic Arcade in Raleigh-Durham, that’s working on a very mature G.I. Joe game, and then, Invoke is working on a D&D game. The key piece I’d tell you is that we have been really fortunate to hire some amazing industry veterans, who have a passion for the brands and games that they’re building.

The Bloomberg article also mentions an internal cancelled project code-named 'Jabberwocky', but does not say what that was.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I played Diablo II when I was at university, and after killing the final boss, the game became repetitive. Not only that game, but all the genre. I suspect one of the reasons of the succes of 5Ed is because gamers became bored with those hack'slash CRPGs where only they had to terminate hordes of monsters and leveling-up to reach the next stage.

Let's remember the current to-too-hidden crisis within the videogame industry. Too many gamers feel tricked by the companies. It is an industry what moves a lot of money, but now the videogame brands are losing of lot of brand power because different reasons. To create a new videogame is becoming a too risky bet.

Lots of gamers know Baldur's Gate and Newerwinter Nights, but the rest of D&D videogames are totally unknown or forgotten. How many people remember D&D Capcom's arcades (Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara)?

If it was so easy, other companies had tried to publish their own CRPG. Maybe there is a lot of Japanese CRPGs but only a little number with the level of popularity of Final Fantasy.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I played Diablo II when I was at university, and after killing the final boss, the game became repetitive. Not only that game, but all the genre. I suspect one of the reasons of the succes of 5Ed is because gamers became bored with those hack'slash CRPGs where only they had to terminate hordes of monsters and leveling-up to reach the next stage.

Nope.

They're just entirely different genres. D&D is much closer to Diablo than most TT RPGs, even most fantasy ones. If people were rejecting "terminating hordes of monsters and leveling up", they definitely would not be picking D&D to play!

That's like thinking people play fantasy football because they're bored of watching basketball, when in fact there's absolutely no connection or correlation between the two things.