D&D: Big Departures At D&D Beyond
The departure of three major players at D&D Beyond yesterday left many wondering what will become of the popular D&D app.
D&D Beyond is the official ttrpg companion app for Dungeons & Dragons. Owned by Fandom, and integrated with Twitch, D&D Beyond has done a lot for the D&D community in the years since its inception. From gathering data to running weekly encounters to providing insight on what happens behind the scenes at D&D in informative videos, to giving folks a place to create characters and access the rules in a convenient, digital format…
D&D Beyond is a place where the community has coalesced. It’s one of many cornerstones–however, just yesterday three major players at D&D Beyond announced their departure, which coupled with the departure of lead writer James Haeck a few weeks back, means that some of the most familiar faces at D&D Beyond won’t be there before too long
I'm sharing today that I'm leaving Fandom and D&D Beyond in the next couple of weeks. Starting @DnDBeyond, forming the team, watching it grow, and engaging the community has been a true honor. I leave celebrating what we have accomplished and look forward to what's ahead for DDB.
— Adam Bradford (@BadEyeAdam) February 4, 2021
Today I announced that I'm leaving D&D Beyond/Fandom. I've been so incredibly blessed to have joined this amazing group of people, and have the chance to help so many play D&D, that I cannot thank my colleagues and my community enough for all the joy!
Thank you everyone. <3
— Lauren (Oboe) (@OboeLauren) February 4, 2021
I have decided to leave D&D Beyond/Fandom as host and creative manager. Tomorrow will be my last day. The D&D community has meant everything to me and I can’t express how lucky I feel to have you all in my life. It wasn’t an easy choice. But…
— Todd Kenreck (@ToddKenreck) February 4, 2021
For those of you who are unaware, Adam Bradford was the D&D Beyond co-founder, is the face of the frequent D&D Beyond Development Updates, and also worked on Tales of Xadia, the Dragon Prince RPG coming out soon. Todd Kenreck, is the host of D&D Beyond’s videos, and can be seen interviewing designers, roleplayers, storytellers, and other folks from throughout the D&D community. And Laura Urban was the community manager for D&D Beyond, community moderator for WotC’s D&D Twitch chats, as well as one of the characters on the official D&D Beyond streams.
Apparently all three have left for an exciting opportunity that they cannot talk about yet–and the timing of it makes it seem like all three are off on the same new project.
Also, much love and adoration for @BadEyeAdam @OboeLauren & @ToddKenreck as they part ways with @DnDBeyond and head off to new adventures. They are such terrific humans.
— Cam Banks (@boymonster) February 4, 2021
But with the departure of three big names at D&D Beyond, it’s left many to wonder about the fate of the app going forward.
After all, D&D Beyond is home to millions of users. As the official partner of WotC, they’ve made huge strides for digital release, with Bradford being one of the big forces pushing for discounted (or even auto-included) digital releases accompanying the purchase of physical books. And as the commentors up there indicate, D&D Beyond is where many peoples’ 5E books are stored.
We’ll know a little more on Monday, but for now, things do seem to be going well for Fandom as a whole. Tales of Xadia is about to launch, and D&D Beyond will likely undergo some reshuffling, but we’ll see what that means for the rollout of future D&D Products through them.
What do you think of the news?
