2025 has been an unexpected year for Dungeons & Dragons in many ways. With the new 2024 revision of the 5th edition complete, the roadmap ahead was already looking different from what fans expected. Then, several big players who’ve been with Dungeons & Dragons for years made their exits from Wizards of the Coast. That left the future of the franchise feeling uncertain enough, but a new post on LinkedIn has gamers even more confused about the future of the beloved tabletop RPG.
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Today, video game industry veteran Dan Ayoub shared a career update via LinkedIn. Ayoub is best known for his work on the Halo franchise, but transitioned to working with Wizards of the Coast as its Senior Vice President of Digital Games a few years ago. Now, it appears he will be taking on a new role within the company as the head of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. His initial post announcing the new role and general shifts in how D&D will be handled has players feeling uncertain about the future of the game.
In his post, Ayoub shares his love for D&D. Then, he drops the big, albeit slightly vague, news. According to Ayoub, Wizards of the Coast has “shifted our structure internally and D&D moved to a full franchise model.” He goes on to explain that “everything touching the franchise lives under one roof.” The post from D&D‘s new leader paints this in an optimistic light, saying that it will “allow a strong, coordinated, and well-funded approach.” But many fans aren’t sure what to make of the news.
What Does a “Full Franchise” Model Mean for Dungeons & Dragons Video Games?
Over the years, some of the most iconic D&D games and projects have not come from in-house teams. Most notably, the massively successful Baldur’s Gate 3 was created in collaboration with Larian Studios. Adaptations and spinoffs have long been a beloved part of D&D lore, and the wording of Ayoub’s statement has some gamers fearing for the future of such projects.
The post itself does not explicitly state that Wizards will no longer work with developers like Larian on licensed products. But reading between the lines, many fans think that’s what’s implied by everything related to the series, including video games, film, and TV, living “under one roof.” Many gamers are responding to the news with fears about the next Baldur’s Gate game, which has already been teased by Ayoub himself in the past.
For many fans, the announcement sounds like a move away from partnerships like the one that brought us the masterpiece of Baldur’s Gate 3. However, that’s not necessarily the case. This announcement is primarily about internal restructuring at Wizards of the Coast and the new role that Ayoub will be stepping into, not an update about who will be involved in developing future D&D video games.
Ayoub himself previously worked as the head of digital games, for instance, but was clearly involved in discussions about the next Baldur’s Gate video game title. Now, it seems that all conversations and decisions about the franchise will happen amongst the same team internally rather than being spread across different divisions within Wizards of the Coast. That doesn’t necessarily remove third-party collaboration and licensing from the table.
Until Wizards of the Coast shares more official plans for the future of games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and movies like Honor Among Thieves, fan fears are mostly speculation. As Dan Ayoub steps into the new role of head of Dungeons & Dragons, gamers will get a better sense of what his leadership and this restructuring truly mean for the beloved TTRPG.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
