Dungeons & Dragons Studio Head Ray Winninger Steps Down

Ray Winninger has left his role as the Executive Produce of the Dungeons & Dragons design studio at Wizards of the Coast. Winninger confirmed the news on Twitter earlier this week, following an edit to his Twitter profile description in which he removed all mention from Wizards of the Coast. Winninger said on Twitter that he had indeed left Wizards of the Coast, stating that he “had accomplished the ambitious goals we set when [he] took over the D&D team.” The departure seems to be an amicable one, with Winninger thanking the D&D team and stating that he looked forward to following the franchise as a fan again. “Shepherding D&D was an honor and a privilege, but I’m looking forward to slowing down and getting back to a list of personal design projects,” Winninger said.  

Winninger took over the Dungeons & Dragons design team in 2020 and oversaw a transition in releases from adventure-focused books set in the Forgotten Realms to more campaign setting releases exploring various classic planes like Ravenloft and Spelljammer. Winninger also announced last year that his design team was working on a new “evolution” of Dungeons & Dragons, which was formally revealed this earlier through the One D&D playtest. 

The timing of Winninger’s departure is curious for several reasons. First, Wizards of the Coast recently announced a new vice president of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise – Dan Rawson, a former tech executive. The announcement also comes in the middle of the One D&D playtest, with designers focusing on making revisions and tweaks to the current Fifth Edition system instead of releasing a brand new game system. Finally, it comes following a Hasbro announcement that Wizards of the Coast had a soft quarter, although those were largely to delays of several Magic: The Gathering products and other timing nuances.