A couple of months back, we learned that Giant Skull’s new D&D project had been cancelled. Now, Wizards of the Coast parent company, Hasbro, is cancelling more videogame projects, in part due to a $56 million loss related to game development costs. 

According to Hasbro’s latest financial filing, the company has “reviewed its portfolio” and cancelled several unannounced games that had been in development but were still a long way off from release. As part of this restructuring, Hasbro recorded “a $56 million non-cash write-down” tied to development costs. The filing also notes that the company intends to narrow its focus moving forward.

Hasbro says its videogame strategy will now centre on “trading card games and role-playing games”, two areas where the company already has major strengths thanks to long-standing franchises like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. GI.biz reports that multiple projects originally planned for 2028 and beyond have been shelved as part of this shift.

Despite the cancellations, two of Hasbro’s biggest upcoming titles remain unaffected. Exodus, a new sci-fi RPG from former Mass Effect developers, is still in development, as is Warlock, a new Dungeons & Dragons game. These appear to be the company’s priority projects as it scales back its broader videogame ambitions.

KitGuru Says: It is great to see Exodus and Warlock are still on the way. I do hope that Hasbro at some point brings Transformers back into the spotlight though. It has been a long time since we last had a great Transformers game. 

Stig Asmussen, the director behind Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, has had his next game project cancelled. Asmussen left EA shortly after finishing Jedi Survivor to form a new studio to work on a new D&D game, but Wizards of the Coast just scrapped it. 

Asmussen's new studio, Giant Skull, had announced their D&D project last year, but Wizards of the Coast has now “decided not to move forward” with the project, as reported by Bloomberg. It is the second D&D game to be cancelled since the success of Baldur's Gate 3, with the other being Project Baxter, which was being worked on by Starbreeze.

While Giant Skull's D&D game will no longer be made, Wizards of the Coast is still supporting other game projects, including Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons, which was announced at The Game Awards last year.

It is unclear what Giant Skull will move on to next. The studio had put around a year of work into this D&D game concept, and now they will have to start over with something else.

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KitGuru Says: Considering the popularity of D&D right now, and the success of Baldur's Gate 3, it is surprising to see new D&D projects being cancelled so quickly.