On behalf of Wizards of the Coast, who are making a fortune with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons, a new AAA game was supposed to be created in Austin, Texas. The people who were supposed to save BioWare’s Anthem were at the helm. But the project is now over.
What kind of project was it? Since 2022, a new studio from Wizards of the Coast was working on a new AAA game in Austin, Texas. The studio is called “Skeleton Key.” Wizards of the Coast are the operators and license holders of game universes like Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons and Dragons.
Skeleton Key was founded in 2022 by Christian Dailey, who had worked at BioWare with his team first on the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic and then on the rescue of Anthem Next, but was pulled from BioWare’s MMO to help with Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
However, Dailey left the studio and the work on Dragon Age with some companions from BioWare and founded Skeleton Key, the new studio of Wizards of the Coast. Their new project, which he had been working on there since 2022, is now also over.
New studio founded in Austin in 2022
What was known about the game? The studio Skeleton Key was founded in 2022 as an internal team of Wizards of the Coast and diligently recruited people, especially developers with decades of experience in the industry.
Its first game was supposed to have a high budget and “include immersive gameplay, unique stories, and thought-provoking moments. It was also supposed to focus on horror and suspense.”
But it was never clear what exactly lay behind it. It was assumed that it would probably be some kind of horror game.
Wizards of the Coast apparently wants new style, new direction
This is the result now: As revealed in the LinkedIn post of the Audio Director, Nassim Ait-Kaci, who worked for Skeleton Key until recently, Wizards of the Coast has canceled the project and laid off some people.
The game had been in development since 2022. They have also canceled the remaining job openings.
According to the Audio Director, Wizards of the Coast wants “a new style and a new direction” – well. Other employees who are still officially working at Skeleton Key have also reported themselves as job seekers on LinkedIn. For example, the head of Technical Art or a Senior 3D Animator. More on the topic: EA’s decision to let the MMO Anthem die looks even worse today than in 2021
