Wizards of the Coast is sunsetting its ambitiousSigil VTT, less than a month after launching the 3D system toDungeons & Dragonsplayers. WOTC introduced fans to a planned virtual tabletop system as part of its ambitious One D&D program in 2022, which sought to consolidateDungeons & Dragonsunder one umbrella. The project was developed using Unreal Engine 5 and sought to be a bridge between more casual video game players and the actual tabletop game.
However, after several years of development and struggles to define the project, reports emerged that Wizards was essentially moving the project onto the backburner. Earlier this week, members of theSigildevelopment team announced they had been laid off by Wizards (viaENWorld). This was followed by reports WOTC was keeping a skeleton crew on the project to roll out already developed features and thatSigilitself would be transitioned into aD&D Beyondfeature.The news brings a sad end to an ambitious project, but one that had too many flaws to be a real market mover.
D&D Is Scrapping Its Project Sigil VTT
Project Will Transition To A D&D Beyond Feature With Limited New Products Planned
After news broke that many Sigil developers were being laid off, several sites reported on an email circulated toD&Dstaff by Dan Rawson, the senior vice president in charge ofDungeons & Dragons. “After several months of alpha testing, we’ve concluded that our aspirations for Sigil as a larger, standalone game with a distinct monetization path will not be realized,” the email reportedly reads. “As such, we cannot maintain a large development effort and most of the Sigil team will be separated from the company this week.”
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While active development onSigilis ending, the project will still live on in a way. “We will transition Sigil to a DDB feature,” the email states. “We will maintain a small team to sustain Sigil and release products already developed at no additional cost to users.“Sigil will transition into a fancier version of the Maps feature of D&D Beyond,with some additional 3D functionality and level-building aspects. However, it appears that after the “products” already developed for Sigil is complete, the remaining staff will move to more maintenance-focused duties.
I’ve Played The VTT, & It’s Definitely Flawed
Program Felt More Like a Level Builder Than A D&D VTT
Sigil, while visually impressive, was a strange project that had no viable chance of truly making headways into the VTT market. Unlike other major VTTs that operate using browser software,Sigilrequired a dedicated client software to function.What’s more, the program only worked on PCs and alsorequired a D&D Beyond account to utilize.
WhenSigillaunched, I downloaded it to see if there were many improvements and found that it sadly remained limited as an intriguing program to use for major battles.
These two major hurdles were unnecessary compared to the much simpler interface that other popular VTTs like Roll20 andD&D Beyond’s Maps offered and ultimately helped lead to its demise. Over thecourse ofSigil’s development, I had the chance to have several hands-on demos. It very much felt like a robust video game level builder with some limited D&D Beyond cross-functionality.
WhenSigillaunched, I downloaded it to see if there were many improvements and found that it sadly remained limited as an intriguing program to use for major battles. While boss fights might feel cool inSigil, average encounters and non-combat encounters were sadly flawed and limited.There wasn’t a good way to just quickly set up a map and let players explore it, at least not in an efficient way compared to other VTTs out in the market.
Why D&D Is Probably Canceling Project Sigil
Project Faced Too Many Hurdles And Lacked A Clear Cut Way To Make Money
Ultimately,Sigilfelt like a solution in need of a problem. It was a fun level builder and had some promise, but it never really met the market demands as towhatDungeons & Dragonsplayers really needed. Players couldn’t download the app and build a new character - they still neededD&D Beyondfor that.
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And Sigil’s developers declined to provide a real incentive to useSigilover other VTTs currently on the market.It really felt doomed from the start,especially as there was no clear path for Wizards of the Coast to properly monetize it without cannibalizing its existing digital sales onD&D Beyond. Sadly, it seems likeSigilwill go down as one of the big “what ifs” inD&Dhistory.
This isn’t the first time that Wizards has scrapped a digitalD&Dproject, andit largely feels like the people stewarding the game have yet to crack the code on how to innovate in the digital VTT space.Wizards' ambitions may have been to crowd out other VTTs in the market, but it just proved dedicated teams who listen to feedback have a much easier time of capturingplayers' time and attention. Hopefully, Wizards learns fromSigil’sdemise and tries to build futureDungeons & Dragonsprojects around what fans actually want.
