The Dungeons & Dragons franchise has been steadily making extra makes an attempt to increase into video video games, and we’re seeing that subsequent effort with Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, a new open-world single-player action-adventure that is all about wielding darkish magic to battle foes.
Simply revealed at The Game Awards 2025, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is the subsequent undertaking from developer Invoke Studios, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons: Darkish Alliance. Set within the D&D universe, Warlock focuses on the adventures of the warrior Kaatri, who embraces newfound darkish powers to unleash some otherworldly magic in her struggle towards the forces invading the land.
“Warlock is a third-person action-adventure sport constructed round immersive, expressive magic the place you employ spellcraft to resolve challenges and take down monsters — and you do all of it in your individual artistic approach throughout all sides of the sport,” stated Jeff Hattem, artistic lead at Invoke Studios.
Previous to the reveal, we acquired an early take a look at Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons and discovered from the builders in regards to the sport’s method to “immersive, expressive magic” in its third-person fight and exploration throughout a linked open world. Within the CG trailer, we get to see a number of foes, comparable to undead warriors and even a Beholder monster that has been the bane of many D&D veterans.
In keeping with the builders, the brand new action-adventure is all about getting into the “warlock fantasy,” and the primary narrative shall be leaning into the lore of the D&D universe to deal with the story of Kaati — performed by Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica fame — as she goes down the trail of the warlock. Because it goes with D&D, warlocks type bonds with otherworldly beings referred to as Patrons, and the connection between Kaatri and her patron shall be one of many marketing campaign’s core tales.
The builders said that the gameplay would lean into participant company, with gamers utilizing Kaatri’s skills and magic to beat challenges. Although the staff wouldn’t say outright whether or not it has immersive-sim qualities, they pointed to their earlier work on video games like Watch Canines, Deus Ex, and Far Cry for the kind of experiences Warlock goals to channel.
That freeform nature is a important a part of the normal tabletop expertise. Nonetheless, the devs have been clear that this new action-adventure will not be actually a conventional RPG. Additionally they consider that its player-agency-driven expertise will function a strong entry level for newcomers to the D&D universe.
“We’re not making an attempt to simulate the tabletop RPG expertise, so there is no such thing as a dice-rolling within the sport — we’re making an attempt to essentially ship a video-game expertise first,” stated Dominic Guay, studio lead at Invoke Studios. “If you’re not accustomed to Dungeons and Dragons, you aren’t going to really feel friction, like in that you simply’re lacking particulars of the world. However in case you are a fan of the universe, you will be actually enthusiastic about what we’re doing with the lore of the collection for Warlock.”
After we solely acquired a take a look at the CG trailer, the builders said that a bigger gameplay reveal is ready for later in summer season 2026. For extra on reveals from The Game Awards 2025, take a look at our roundup of all of the bulletins from the present.
You’ll want to take a look at every part introduced at The Game Awards 2025 for extra, in addition to the winners checklist in full.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You possibly can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.