The companies behind Minecraft and Dungeons and Dragons have recently announced a partnership to bring D&D to the digital game as a DLC. The announcement of the Minecraft crossover was a part of D&D Direct, a traditional online show that announces new D&D products.
Released over a decade ago, Minecraft is perhaps one of the most enduring sandbox games in existence today. The game’s flexibility and creative gameplay, the fact that it's an excellent game to play with a low-spec PC, as well as several updates, have kept it popular for years. Over time, Minecraft gained several new game modes, a few crossovers, and countless fan-made creations. Now, it’s set to get one of its most awaited crossovers ever.
Today, in D&D Direct, Wizards of the Coast announced a Dungeons and Dragons DLC for Minecraft. According to the announcement, the DLC will come with a campaign that will last for around 10 hours, and it will feature a custom combat system that will use a 20-side dice, just like in the tabletop game. Also, it will allow gamers to play in several D&D classes like Paladin, Barbarian, Wizard, or Rogue. Players will also get to fight several famous D&D monsters such as mimics, beholders, mind flayers, and much more.
In the announcement video, it’s possible to see a bit of the gameplay, which includes a few combat encounters, as well as visits to several cities in the Forgotten Realms, the official D&D setting. According to Wizards, gamers will be able to explore several famous locations, including the Candlekeep Library, or the cold Icewind Dale, where games such as Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance happens. At the moment, the DLC does not have a fixed release date. However, Wizards of the Coast promises it will be out during the Spring this year.
With the creativity and effort that most Minecraft players have, the addition of the Dungeons and Dragons world can certainly bring a lot to the table, especially concerning fan-made content. Recently, a Minecraft gamer created a giant map spanning their entire world by putting together 120 combined maps, which shows just how far Minecraft creators are willing to go. Mixing a game that allows such creativity with tabletop RPGs, which are famous for player-centered emergent gameplay, seems like the recipe for success, as players will come up with more and more ways to create engaging worlds.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.