Is Dungeons and Dragons’ Video Game Crown Lost Forever?

Mar 29, 2018

Dungeons and Dragons based, officially licensed video games were once at the pinnacle of entertainment and held the RPG crown for quite some time. The game that began in 1974 with Tactical Studies Rules’ tabletop offering went on to spark a successful game franchise across various platforms, spanning over two decades. Now, though, with the wealth of fantasy games available and the success of the genre, the competition for Dungeons and Dragons has become fiercer. It seems as though one of the most iconic RPGs of all time has been forced to give up its crown.

The Glory Days

While for many, the best way to enjoy Dungeons and Dragons is the 3.5 version, and there was no doubt that a game of its caliber would be reimagined as a video game. But in fact, the first ever DnD game came out for one of the earliest ever consoles – the Intellivision from Mattel Electronics. This was the 1982 offering from the console’s developers, titled Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Cloudy Mountain. Although the title was primitive compared to what we know today, it was well received and won the 1984 Best Action Videogame at the 5th annual Arkie Awards.

This inspired over twelve other video games after it, and there was a period that many people would refer to as the glory days. This was when DnD was undisputedly the king of the RPG. It began with BioWare’s Baldur’s Gate in 1998, which was met with critical acclaim across the board. The offering released by Interplay Entertainment for Microsoft Windows was named Best Role Playing Game of 1998. This was followed later by Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 in 2002 and 2006 respectively, both of which were nominated for the RPG of the Year award.

Unfortunately for Dungeons and Dragons fans, more recent entries to the franchise like 2015’s Sword Coast Legends from Digital Extremes, a Canadian/Chinese developer, have been met with average reviews. It could be argued now that the wealth of fantasy experiences on offer have widened the market, giving people much more choice than they had during DnD’s glory days.

Wider Fantasy Popularity Making Competition Fiercer

Although it could be argued that Dungeons and Dragons inspired a lot of the fantasy that exists today, it has in fact been surpassed in terms of popularity by other franchises. The success of HBO’s Game of Thrones, for instance, has led to a number of games to do with the hit series. The show based on George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series is watched by an average of 10 million people per episode. A large portion of this fan base wants to get more Westeros-based action, and there are a number of games they can play. One option for fans of iGaming is Microgaming’s Game of Thrones slot at Betway, which is officially licensed and even carries specific house bonuses. Or for more of an RPG-themed title, the 2014 Telltale Games offering for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows has proved popular with fans of the series.

Prior to the sprawling world of Westeros, fantasy fans could enjoy J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth on the big screen in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. This is another hugely popular realm which has been immortalised in game in recent years. Some of the most successful offerings based in the land of elves and orcs include Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor in 2014, and the newly released Middle Earth: Shadow of War,which came out in October of 2017. These are both detailed RPG games which give players a chance to enter worlds that they have already seen envisaged in Peter Jackson’s epic films. Dungeons and Dragons has never crossed over into a major Hollywood franchise, so it is way behind in this respect.

RPGs are still one of the most popular genres of game, and a lot of them are inspired by Dungeons and Dragons to some extent. The wealth of different fantasy worlds on offer now gives gamers more choice, though, and TV and film have helped to attract players to franchises like GoT and LOtR. Perhaps if DnD wants to reclaim its crown as the ultimate RPG, the franchise needs to expand into a hit TV series or movie. This would serve to remind players and developers of the huge scope on offer in the world of Dungeons and Dragons.