Dungeons & Dragonshas some exciting video game projects on the horizon, but Wizards of the Coast has already missed one of the biggest opportunities associated with the plan. Earlier this year,D&Dabruptly downscaled development on Project Sigil, a 3D virtual tabletop with lofty ambitions for immersive battle maps.
While it was a frustrating decision from the start, the latestnews aboutD&Dvideo gamesreveals just how unfortunate the abandonment of Sigil really is. Wizards of the Coast president John Hight explained thatfutureD&Dvideo games will be using Unreal Engine 5, and the way that the studio plans to support these ventures would have connected perfectly to Project Sigil’s ambitions.
Unreal Engine 5 Will Define D&D’s Video Game Future
A Unified Vision For Development Support
John Hight goes into depths onD&D’s video game plans in a discussion withThe Game Business Show,sharing that a unified Unreal Engine 5 approach will allow Wizards to directly support the various studios working onD&Dgames. “Artists and world builders” will be able to assist in development, as a"talent team that’s really good at doing fantasy art"will be suited to the fantasy underpinnings of most Wizards ventures.
I’m not especially enthused about the use of Unreal Engine 5, an engine that I’m often critical of, but this particular concept of a unified engine across products and a unilateral support team does make a lot of sense. The modern cost and scale of major game development are becoming increasingly unsustainable, andthis could be a smart way to streamlineD&Dventuresto some degree. I’m hoping that the games will still be able to explore distinct art styles, as the increased diversity in illustrations has been one of the best changes in recentD&Dbooks.
D&D Unreal Assets Would Have Been Great For Project Sigil
Sigil Needed Some Outside Assists
While it’s difficult to say exactly how this will help or hurt futureD&Dgame projects, it’s much easier to assess how much it could have benefited Project Sigil. In its alpha state,Sigil had a limited variety of assets, with some map concepts being much easier to create than others.
You could toss together a tavern or cemetery with ease, but my attempt torecreate the Death House in Project Sigilran into more issues. If development on Sigil hadn’t been downscaled, the promise of more assets over time was one of the primary avenues for improvement.
Now, it sounds likeUnreal Engine 5 assets will be a core part ofD&D’s future, but Project Sigil probably won’t get to benefit from them. 90% of the team was laid off in March this year, and although the remaining developers continued to work on the virtual tabletop, the focus shifted away from grand plans to prioritize community requests.
I’ve always felt likeSigil’s untimely end was premature, as the project was never given much of a chance to shine. Whether it was a wise venture to begin with is a separate question, but the decision to greenlight it, spend years in development, and then call things off after an underwhelming alpha test certainly wasn’t the ideal approach. The alpha wasn’t bad, just unfinished, and extending the proper support to see development through could have resulted in something cool.
Connecting Sigil With D&D Video Games Was Key
Sigil Couldn’t Fully Capitalize On BG3’s Hype
A lot of the feedback I saw for Sigil, both from those who played it and those who didn’t, focused on comparisons toBaldur’s Gate 3. WhileSigil invited these comparisonsby advertising itself with Karlach and Astarion at the forefront,Baldur’s Gate 3’s use of the proprietary (and excellent) Divinity Engine complicated the overall concept of direct support forBG3assets.
Letting players use assets from future Unreal Engine 5 games could have injected Sigil with the excitement it needed, even if nothing quite replicates the overwhelming hype thatBaldur’s Gate 3generated.It still wouldn’t have happened quickly, as mostD&Dvideo game plans are probably still years out from release, but Sigil should have been a long-term commitment to begin with.
My personal skepticism toward Unreal Engine 5 makes it hard for me to get excited about futureD&Dgames being built in it, especially whenBaldur’s Gate 3demonstrated how much a good proprietary engine can offer. All ofthat material feeding into Sigil would have been the perfect pay-off, and it could have made me look at the enterprise with a lot more favor.
At this point, it’s all just wishful thinking, and the odds are that I wouldn’t have ended up using Project Sigil much anyway. I still struggle with its potential to limit player creativity rather than enhance it, as it’s hard to leave the same room forimagination in a 3D map.
All the same, it’s frustrating to learn how much it could have drawn from months after that potential has been cut short, and I wishDungeons & Dragonshad been willing to give the team at least a little more time so we could see what might have been possible.
