This might just be the biggest news of 2025 for the world of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs): Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford — two of the most influential figures in recent Dungeons & Dragons history — now work at Darrington Press.
Perkins and Crawford were heavily involved in the development of D&D’s 5th edition, which helped the venerable game achieve new heights of popularity, as well as last year’s major “One D&D” update. Meanwhile, Darrington Press — which is owned by Critical Role, a popular liveplay series that also helped boost D&D’s popularity — recently released their own game, Daggerheart.
Although D&D remains the most well-known TTRPG, several significant competitors have emerged, including Blades in the Dark, DC20, Ironsworn, Pathfinder, Shadowdark, and the upcoming Draw Steel. Interest in playing — and creating — D&D alternatives has seen an uptick in recent years in light of the TTRPG community’s increasing diversity as well as some truly bone-headed decisions by D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast (e.g., 2023’s Open Game License controversy).
Thus, the news that two of D&D’s biggest developers are now working for one of D&D’s biggest competitors is far from trivial, and signals a disturbing trend for the world’s biggest role-playing game. As Wargamer reports, Perkins and Crawford’s arrival at Darrington Press is the latest example of “brain drain” for Wizards, which has lost several key employees in the last two years.
I’m certainly happy for Perkins and Crawford; they’ve made a really positive impact on the D&D community and deserve all of their success. Still, I must confess that part of me feels decidedly mixed by this new state of affairs.
On the one hand, it’s good to see TTRPGs grow and evolve, and I’m excited to play some D&D alternatives and have different gaming experiences. (One of my gaming groups is actually playing a Shadowdark campaign right now while my other gaming group is planning to play Daggerheart once our current Shadowrun campaign reaches a good stopping point.)
On the other hand, it sucks to see D&D in such a seemingly directionless state. It’s the granddaddy of the genre, and I have so many good memories associated with it, sitting around a table with good friends, rolling dice (and praying for those natural 20s), and telling epic, silly, and super-nerdy stories. To see it now beleaguered by corporate ineptitude and talent loss is frustrating.