Dungeons & Dragons survival sim video game on the way from studio behind Disney Dreamlight Valley
Plowshares to swords.
A new Dungeons & Dragons video game billed as a cooperative survival simulation is being developed by Gameloft Montreal, the studio best known for Disney Dreamlight Valley.
The Canadian studio announced their partnership with Wizards of the Coast on March 14th, saying that the as yet unnamed video game will be set in the Forgetten Realms universe (D&D boasts several disparate fantasy sandboxes where it has played over the years). Players will engage in cooperative interactions “built around an innovative hybrid of survival, life simulation and action RPG,” according to a press release.
“We are honored to partner with Wizards of the Coast to deliver a completely new experience in the Dungeons & Dragons® universe,” said Lee Kaburis, executive producer at Gameloft Montreal. “We are all big fans of D&D and are already hard at work bringing our concept to life, including growing our team, and we look forward to sharing more details in the future.”
Indeed, the announcement was followed by a spree of job postings on the studio’s website, which include 3D character and environment animators, concept artists and VFX/sound designers. Given the Gameloft’s experience with Disney Dreamlight Valley, which became a hit thanks to its combination of familiar Disney characters and recognizable farm sim gameplay, they make a compelling pick for a video game in this vein. If you were hoping for something more in the vein of Stardew Valley or Terraria, sorry: this upcoming title will probably trade heavily on comparisons to Baldur’s Gate 3.
"Making friends, both on and off the table, has always been a core Dungeons & Dragons value and it is our goal, as life-long fans, to bring this experience to a different genre renowned for emergent gameplay and shared narrative that can be enjoyed by both newcomers and tabletop masters alike” said Marc-Andre Deslongchamps, creative director at Gameloft Montreal.
It’s strange that this project wasn’t handed over to one of the four studios owned by Wizards of the Coast’s corporate patron, Hasbro. The giant toy maker bet hard on video games five years ago, hoping to pivot the D&D brand into digital and multimedia products. The one resulting project, Dark Alliance, did not score particularly well, and at least one studio - Hidden Path - recently laid off 44 workers and indefinitely paused work on its D&D video game.
D&D’s strength in telling heroic stories in a fantasy pastiche fits the structure of a survival sim/action RPG hybrid. The pitch sounds very close to Stunlock Studios’s V Rising, which has players building a gothic base in the wilderness out of scrounged resources and enthralled labour from the surrounding hamlets. You’ll probably be much less evil in this game, but the loop of fighting, crafting gear, upgrading your base and expanding into new areas feels ripe for a Forgotten Realms reskinning.
“Our portfolio of IP including Dungeons & Dragons continues to attract amazing partners as we execute our plan to grow our digital games portfolio through licensing and internal development,” said Eugene Evans, senior vice president of digital strategy and licensing at Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. “Our partnership with Gameloft is a prime illustration of our strategy. Given their impressive record building incredible new experiences with major IPs combined with their passion for D&D and vision for this game, we are confident they will create an experience that will delight fans worldwide.”