According to experienced DnD writer and game designer Andy Collins, who had worked as “de facto design lead” on Wizards’ Project Sigil 3D virtual tabletop since March 2024, Wizards of the Coast has just laid off “approximately 30 talented developers (90% of the team)”, including Collins.
Collins posted the news on LinkedIn at around 9pm ET / 6pm PT on Tuesday, adding that “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to continue working toward the full experience that we imagined, but happy for the opportunity to work on an intriguing challenge with so many smart and dedicated folks.”
Collins is something of a veteran of Dungeons and Dragons development, having worked at the Washington based company for 14 years between 1996 and 2010 – first as a magazine editor, then later in increasingly senior game design roles, helping on the development of DnD edition 3.5 and its successor 4th edition.
According to Collins’ LinkedIn profile, they returned to Wizards in April 2024 as Senior Game Rules Specialist, in charge of “overseeing rules development and game implementation for Sigil”, as well as managing “feature and content scope, iteration, and delivery”. They list that role as ending in March 2025, coinciding with their post on Tuesday.
The D&D and Magic: The Gathering publisher has not yet commented officially on the alleged layoffs at Sigil or what they mean for the future of its official DnD virtual tabletop, which launched in an incomplete beta form on PC in February 2025.
The Project Sigil virtual tabletop was first shown off in full in a D&D direct live stream in August 2024, promising an “immersive 3D sandbox” using Unreal Engine 5 to allow fully digital play, with high detail environments, lighting, custom miniatures, and integration with Wizards’ DnD Beyond tools to handle your character’s DnD character sheet, equipment, and DnD stats.
But the fan reception since its beta launch in February has been lukewarm at best, with reviewers generally celebrating its impressive graphics and atmosphere, but highlighting limited functionality, glitches, and user experience issues that mar its effectiveness as a game tool for tabletop RPG players.
Wargamer has reached out to Wizards of the Coast directly for comment on the alleged staff reductions, what notice and redundancy packages any laid off developers may have been offered, and what the future plans for Sigil are. We will update this story with their official comment as soon as we hear more.
For more news on what’s going on at Wizards, check our up to date DnD release schedule, and follow us on Google News for daily updates. We also have handy game guides to all the DnD races and DnD classes to help you roll up a character.
Source: Wargamer
