WotC WotC Removes Release Dates From Promo Images For 2024

On Friday, WotC shared a bunch of images of 2024's D&D releases, which included release dates for each book.

• 2024 Core Rulebooks (May 21st)
• Vecna: Eve of Ruin (May 21st)
• Quests from the Infinite Staircase (July 16th)
• Making of D&D (June 18th)

The images were initially shared during a panel at PAX Unplugged, and were shortly after shared widely on the official D&D social media outlets.

However, a few hours later, all those images were removed from WotC's social media, and were later replaced by images without the release dates.

Additionally, the '2024 Core Rules' image was replaced with a caption saying '2024 Player's Handbook'.

It's not clear why they were removed, whether those release dates are incorrect, or if they simply weren't supposed to be shared yet. But since we shared those images too, we should note that it's possible the dates we shared might not be set in stone. More info if and when we have it!

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

I was actually really surprised to see that they had put a single release date for the entire set of three core rulebooks. In an interview one of the WotC principles said that the entire print run of all three rulebooks was too large to be done at once. And in the past when new editions were released, the core rulebooks were released on a staggered schedule.

 

[DEFCON 1]

No kidding. I'm still amazed that anyone actually still has faith in WotC after the repeated mistakes, product quality issues, and communication blunders (not to mention the OGL scandal that sparked it all off) without any sign whatsoever of learning from their past mistakes. A company that addresses issues reactively instead of pro-actively is not a well run company. Buyer beware.

We don't need to have "faith" in a company. All that matters is "Do they make something I want to use?" If the answer is "Yes", then the company can act almost however they want internally so long as that product gets on the shelves. Too many people invest their time and energy worrying about all the superfluous chaff around the product, rather than just worrying about the item they want to buy.

If (general) you are someone who gets bent out of shape seeing how all this stuff in the background plays out, your solution is simple-- stop reading about it. (General) you don't HAVE to read all these articles and recaps on places like this, you know. (General) you can just play your D&D game and every couple months or so just walk into the Barnes & Noble, see what's new on the shelf, and flip through it and decide whether or not to buy it. And that's it! Then you never have to worry about what "the company" is doing, nor waste your "faith" on something that doesn't matter.

 

[EthanSental]

I can’t imagine how potentially bad TSR would be if it was still around in this social media era….they were 2 left feet in a magazine / letter writing era plus the late and delayed releases…Now holy cow!

 

[jerryrice4949]

Lol. The stewards of D&D, the largest RPG publisher on the planet, a massive multimillion dollar company, couldn't proofread their slides.

It's Keystone Cops at this point.

It is certainly amusing and makes for a lot of fun jokes but I don’t think it is a general sign of competence. I work for one of the largest companies in the United States and you would be surprised at the typos and errors I see in presentations, SOPs, public releases etc. it is the nature of having a lot of moving parts and time pressures and generally not a sign of general competence. All big companies suffer from this and many small too.

 

[the Jester]

They shared a single piece of PC art. How could any single piece be a trend towards or away from representation?

I posted that assuming it was the cover of the PH, but that no longer appears to be the case.

 

[caudor]

I think it is as simple as: any company employing humans will experience errors. Someone messed up and that is all that happened.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think it is as simple as: any company employing humans will experience errors. Someone messed up and that is all that happened.

I think the issue, for folks who think there's an issue, is that 2023 has been full of mess ups. The biggest (OGL fiasco, MTG insanity, the Pinkertons) are all much bigger than this, which is a goof we won't remember in a few weeks once we have better estimated dates from WotC. (I am guessing we won't get clarity until after the holidays.)

 

[Parmandur]

I was actually really surprised to see that they had put a single release date for the entire set of three core rulebooks. In an interview one of the WotC principles said that the entire print run of all three rulebooks was too large to be done at once. And in the past when new editions were released, the core rulebooks were released on a staggered schedule.

Pretty sure the leaked date is for the PHB.

 

[Parmandur]

It is certainly amusing and makes for a lot of fun jokes but I don’t think it is a general sign of competence. I work for one of the largest companies in the United States and you would be surprised at the typos and errors I see in presentations, SOPs, public releases etc. it is the nature of having a lot of moving parts and time pressures and generally not a sign of general competence. All big companies suffer from this and many small too.

Yeah, I mean, I consider it more funny and useful fuel for speculation games than any sort of reflection on the employees involved. Miscommunication happen, and often about much more serious matters.

 

[J.Quondam]

I think the issue, for folks who think there's an issue, is that 2023 has been full of mess ups. The biggest (OGL fiasco, MTG insanity, the Pinkertons) are all much bigger than this, which is a goof we won't remember in a few weeks once we have better estimated dates from WotC. (I am guessing we won't get clarity until after the holidays.)

On the other hand, I can genuinely thank WotC for teaching me, that today in the year 2023, the Pinkertons are, in fact, still a thing.