{"id":74295,"date":"2019-12-14T03:12:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T10:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/wizards-of-the-coast-expands-magic-and-dd-further-beyond-tabletop-with-two-new-video-games\/"},"modified":"2019-12-14T03:12:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T10:12:21","slug":"wizards-of-the-coast-expands-magic-and-dd-further-beyond-tabletop-with-two-new-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taterboy.com\/blog\/2019\/12\/wizards-of-the-coast-expands-magic-and-dd-further-beyond-tabletop-with-two-new-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards of the Coast expands \u2018Magic\u2019 and \u2018D&D\u2019 further beyond tabletop with two new video games"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wizards of the Coast announced two new video games Thursday night, expanding its iconic tabletop gaming franchises further into the digital realm.<\/p>\n

The company, based in Renton, Wash., unveiled a new Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> role-playing game for PCs and consoles called Dark Alliance<\/a>;<\/em>\u00a0and a new massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game called Magic: Legends<\/em><\/a>, set in the multiverse of Magic: The Gathering.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wizards of the Coast made the announcements at the annual Game Awards video game show, where ordinarily you might not expect to hear anything from a tabletop game company. But Wizards of the Coast has been expanding into video games, with recent offerings including \u2018Magic: The Gathering \u2013 Arena,\u2019 <\/em><\/a>and the latest unveilings continue the trend.<\/p>\n

Magic: Legends <\/em>appeared in the form of a short trailer, with no other information readily available. We know it exists; we know it\u2019s an MMO; and we know that it will put players in the role of their own (presumably original) \u201cplaneswalkers,\u201d the world-crossing wizards who make up most of the signature cast of Magic<\/em>\u2019s surprisingly elaborate background story.<\/p>\n

More information is planned for release in January, alongside Legends\u2019 <\/em>entry into beta testing.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Dark Alliance <\/em>is technically the third game in a long-dead series, following 2001\u2019s Baldur\u2019s Gate: Dark Alliance <\/em>and 2004\u2019s Dark Alliance 2<\/em>. The series was meant to continue with a third game, but that was one of many projects that was suddenly canceled by the closure of the late, lamented Black Isle Studios<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new game, simply called Dark Alliance, <\/em>is set in the long-running D&D <\/em>setting, the Forgotten Realms. It\u2019s an action-RPG (kill monsters, get loot, repeat) for up to four players, where each takes the part of one of the four Companions of the Hall: Drizzt Do\u2019Urden, Catti-Brie, Wulfgar, and Bruenor Battlehammer.<\/p>\n

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We here at @Wizards_DnD<\/a> are thrilled to finally announce @DarkAlliance<\/a> to the world! Slay together as Drizzt, Wulfgar, Catti-brie, and Bruenor in this 4 player Co-op Action RPG. Mind blowing riffs provided by @inflames_swe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Learn more: https:\/\/t.co\/2R9JN4YgKq<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/iPbRPHvvl4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dark Alliance (@DarkAlliance) December 13, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The Companions all first appeared in R.A. Salvatore\u2019s Icewind Dale trilogy<\/a>, which began in 1988. This began a series of popular D&D <\/em>novels that\u2019s run all the way up to the present day, with a new novel planned to come out in July of 2020.<\/p>\n

Most of those novels feature Drizzt, a drow elf ranger and a rebel against his race\u2019s typical matriarchal villainry. Drizzt has been a madly popular character and a regular presence in D&D <\/em>video games almost since his debut, but this marks a sudden comeback for his old adventuring party, most of whom are actually dead in the current Forgotten Realms metaplot.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Wizards is experiencing a boom at the moment, thanks to the rising popularity of both the Dungeons & Dragons <\/em>tabletop game and Magic: The Gathering. <\/em>While multiple factors are going into both games\u2019 rise, such as a number of prominent actors who grew up on D&D<\/em>, the lion\u2019s share of interest comes from the streaming audience; D&D <\/em>in particular benefits from regular live-play broadcasts such as \u201cCritical Role\u201d and Penny Arcade\u2019s \u201cAcquisitions Incorporated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Game Awards conference is considered one of the highlights of the video game industry\u2019s calendar, since it typically represents the year\u2019s last opportunity to make a bunch of big announcements in between award presentations. While Microsoft started the night off strong with the newly-christened Xbox Series X console<\/a>, Wizards was a surprise second-place contender.<\/p>\n

In addition to the new video games, Wizards announced a new block of cards for Magic<\/em> called Theros Beyond Death<\/a><\/em>. Featuring a return to the plane of Theros, its trailer features the surprise reappearance of one of Magic<\/em>\u2019s signature characters, the late Elspeth Tirel<\/a>. Despite the best efforts of a new character named Ashiok<\/a>, Elspeth seems to be on track to escape Theros\u2019s particular underworld and return to prominence.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Beyond Death <\/em>also features three new mechanics<\/a>, following the general theme of the set\u2019s story. Escape allows you to cast cards from your graveyard by paying a set cost in both mana and exiled cards; Devotion is a mechanic that affects certain cards based upon however many permanents of a single color you control at the time; and Constellation cards receive bonuses or new abilities whenever a new enchantment enters the game under your control. Saga cards are also making a return in Beyond Death<\/em>, following their last appearance in Dominaria<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Wizards of the Coast announced two new video games Thursday night, expanding its iconic tabletop gaming franchises further into the digital realm. The company, based in Renton, Wash., unveiled a new Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game for PCs and consoles called Dark Alliance;\u00a0and a new massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game called Magic: Legends, set in the… Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":74296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games-media","category-gaming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t