“We really really appreciate that feedback and we’re doing our best to give you the version of the game that you really want,” said Winninger. “We can’t really say much more yet about what our plans are, we’re still making them,” Winninger continued, “Next year we’ll have lots more to say about the future of D&D and, probably most importantly, when we’re ready to talk more about our plans next year, we’ll have a lot more to say about how the fans can contribute and help shape this game into all that it can be.”
Also discussed was this upcoming edition will be compatible with all current 5E releases from WotC. An online component was also mentioned but really without further details about that either.
While many think the backward compatibility indicates something along the lines of a 5.5 edition as Wizards of the Coast did when advancing 3rd edition to 3.5 in 2003, I believe we’ll actually see a full fledged 6th edition. Granted, WotC doesn’t have the largest development team working full-time on D&D but I would highly doubt work would have begun two and a half or three years out from release if this were just a revision. Add in the fact 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the world famous RPG’s launch and I think Wizards of the Coast would want to celebrate that with a big splash by landing a brand new edition.
I also have the impression the online element of whatever this new iteration of the game might end up being is going to be a standalone virtual tabletop dedicated solely to D&D. This isn’t to say that content will be exclusive only to an in house VTT but I surely wouldn’t be shocked if the game went in that direction. It would make perfect sense to cut out the middlemen of other established VTTs in order to maximize profits from a new core release.
2022 will certainly shine far more light on the future of Dungeons & Dragons and I’ll share more news once it becomes available.
Here’s the Future of D&D stream:
