Summary
Dungeons & Dragonhas been rising in popularity in recent years, mostly thanks to popular shows likeCritical Roleand Legends of Avantris, as well as the absolute behemoth that wasBaldur’s Gate 3. You could argue that Dungeons & Dragons has never been more popular, and Wizards of the Coast seemingly wants to try and make the game even more appealing to outsiders by utilizing “external IP” to the fullest.
According toa new job listing on the official Hasbro recruitment website(thanksWargamer), Wizards of the Coast is looking for a “product architect” that will fulfill a number of roles, but will focus on “innovating our playable content for digital platforms, top-of-funnel new player experiences, and exciting co-created releases featuring external IP.”
To translate that for normal people, that essentially means coming up with new ideas to make Dungeons & Dragons more playable digitally, making it more appealing to newcomers, and to work with other companies on Dungeons & Dragons products. On that last point, that means working with other IP to bring into Dungeons & Dragons -not to work with other studios like Larian Studiosand Paramount on D&D-based games and movies (though they’ll do that too).
Dungeons & Dragons Is Getting More Products Using Outside IP
Like Wargamer points out, the most obvious point of comparison is something likeMagic: The Gathering’sUniverses Beyond sets, which have crossed over with the likes ofGhostbusters,Chucky, Fallout, and Assassin’s Creed in recent months. Obviously, it’s unlikely that we’ll be getting an official D&D campaign based on Assassin’s Creed anytime soon (though that would be pretty cool), but that’s the kind of thing Wizards wants from the “product architect”.
It makes sense too,considering how popular Universes Beyond has beenand how much it’s helped newcomers integrate themselves into the Magic: The Gathering sphere. Crossovers are all the rage these days, and what better way to finally get someone into Dungeons & Dragons than create something official based on an outside property that people who otherwise wouldn’t be too interested in D&D would enjoy? It worked pretty well for Baldur’s Gate 3.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game that first took the world by storm in the 1970s, and continues to enchant millions of players today. With a seemingly endless number of campaigns for you to play, and spin-off media from video games to blockbuster movies, you’ll never get bored of D&D.
