Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons Is a New Single-Player RPG That Leans Into 'Expressive Magic' | The Game Awards 2025

The Dungeons & Dragons franchise has been steadily making much attempts to grow into video games, and we're seeing that adjacent effort with Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, a caller open-world single-player action-RPG that's each astir wielding acheronian magic to conflict foes.

Just revealed astatine The Game Awards 2025, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is the adjacent task from developer Invoke Studios, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. Set successful the D&D universe, Warlock focuses connected the adventures of the warrior Kaatri, who embraces newfound acheronian powers to unleash immoderate otherworldly magic successful her combat against the forces invading the land.

"Warlock is simply a third-person action-adventure crippled built astir immersive, expressive magic wherever you usage spellcraft to lick challenges and instrumentality down monsters — and you bash it each successful your ain originative mode crossed each facets of the game," said Jeff Hattem, originative pb astatine Invoke Studios.

​Prior to the reveal, we got an aboriginal look astatine Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons and learned from the developers astir the game's attack to "immersive, expressive magic" successful its third-person combat and exploration crossed a connected unfastened world. In the CG trailer, we get to spot a assortment of foes, specified arsenic undead warriors and adjacent a Beholder monster that has been the bane of galore D&D veterans.

​According to the developers, the caller action-RPG is each astir stepping into the "warlock fantasy," and the main communicative volition beryllium leaning into the lore of the D&D beingness to absorption connected the communicative of Kaati — played by Tricia Helfer of Battlestar Galactica fame — arsenic she goes down the way of the warlock. As it goes with D&D, warlocks signifier bonds with otherworldly beings known arsenic Patrons, and the narration betwixt Kaatri and her patron volition beryllium 1 of the campaign's halfway stories.

​The developers stated that the gameplay would thin into subordinate agency, with players utilizing Kaatri's abilities and magic to flooded challenges. Though the squad would not accidental outright whether it has immersive-sim qualities, they pointed to their erstwhile enactment connected games similar Watch Dogs, Deus Ex, and Far Cry for the benignant of experiences Warlock aims to channel.

That freeform quality is simply a captious portion of the accepted tabletop experience. However, the devs were wide that this caller action-RPG is not truly a accepted RPG. They besides judge that its player-agency-driven acquisition volition service arsenic a coagulated introduction constituent for newcomers to the D&D universe.

"We're not trying to simulate the tabletop RPG experience, truthful determination is nary dice-rolling successful the crippled — we're trying to truly present a video-game acquisition first," said Dominic Guay, workplace pb astatine Invoke Studios. "If you are not acquainted with Dungeons and Dragons, you are not going to consciousness friction, similar successful that you're missing details of the world. But if you are a instrumentality of the universe, you are going to beryllium truly excited astir what we are doing with the lore of the bid for Warlock."

After we lone got a look astatine the CG trailer, the developers stated that a larger gameplay uncover is acceptable for aboriginal successful summertime 2026. For much connected reveals from The Game Awards 2025, cheque retired our roundup of each the announcements from the show.

Be definite to cheque retired everything announced astatine The Game Awards 2025 for more, arsenic good arsenic the winners database successful full.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].