Wizards of the Coast, an American publisher most well-known for tabletop games like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, revealed that it is scaling back its video game production and will be canceling several video games that were under development. It’s reported that at least five video game projects will be canceled. Wizards is a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., which suffered from a shares drop of 40% last year. Because of the drop in shares, several Hasbro projects needed to be retooled or canceled altogether.
Bloomberg received an official statement from a spokesperson from Wizards of the Coast, claiming the company is still “committed to using digital games.” However, Bloomberg also reports fewer than 15 people will lose their jobs at Wizards of the Coast as the company reorganizes. Several layoff employees will have the opportunity to apply to different positions in the company. Less certain is the independent video game studios hired by Wizards of the Coast to develop several titles for the corporation. Studios like Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment were brought on board to work on games for Wizards, whose projects are now up in the air.
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In the past several years, Wizards of the Coast invested in the video game industry, creating six studios and signing contracts with other developers. The company hoped to break into the game industry and be as successful in video games as it is in tabletop gaming. One of the big new titles Wizards’ published was Dungeon and Dragons: Dark Alliance for home consoles and PC, released in 2021 and developed by Tuque Games. The title received mixed reviews and was not nearly successful as Wizards wanted it to be.
Fortunately, Wizards still has the full release of Baldur’s Gate III to look forward to. Even though Baldur’s Gate III is developed and published by Larian Studios, the Baldur’s Gate series is directly based on the Dungeon and Dragons roleplaying system. Baldur’s Gate III is in early access for PC, with the full version of the game launching in August.
