Inferring Wizards of the Coast’s upcoming release schedule.
2026 is here and the release schedules are out for our favourite TTRPGs. The Cosmere RPG is getting the Mistborn setting, Daggerheart has announced a rules expansion in Hope and Fear and Pathfinder has multiple adventures announced.
But what about the king of TTRPGs? Surely D&D with it’s multibook a year release schedule has a few things for fans to look forward to! Well actually, they don’t. At least they haven’t announced anything.
They’re definitely working on something. The 29 unreleased playtest subclasses and 1 class seem to attest to this. But exactly what those releases are and when they’ll drop remains a mystery. But wizards of the Coast (WOTC) has left us some breadcrumbs.
Below, I’ve done my best Hansel and Gretel and I’ve tried to follow those breadcrumbs to infer what we could be getting in 2026 and why it might not have been announced yet.
Why hasn’t WOTC announced anything for 2026 yet?
This could be down to a few reasons, the most likely of which I’ve outlined below.
Reduced marketing budgets
Only a few years ago, WOTC was running yearly D&D Directs. These were videos that outlined all the releases to expect over the next year or so. They were big events and involved lots of production and I imagine, marketing budget.
Fast forward a few years and while Hasbro and/or WOTC have always been keen on cost cutting, this seems to have become more substantial lately with many designers etc made redundant. One simple reason for keeping hush about upcoming releases might simply be reducing the marketing period for new products to cut costs.
Changing of the guard
Last year we saw Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins depart WOTC for Darrington Press and their breakout hit, Daggerheart. Along with that have been other departures and incomings to replace them. Naturally, they will need time to settle into their new roles and make whatever direction adjustments they deem necessary. This might mean holding off on announcing or even delaying internal deadlines for current projects.
Avoiding delays
2025 had various delays. The biggest of these was with Eberron: Forge of the Artificer which had its August release pushed back to December because of product quality issues. On top of this, for those outside the US, I think pretty much every book has seen additional delays as well.
A couple of years ago, WOTC took manufacturing internally and has never quite managed to keep up with demand for new releases outside of the US. Delays in announcements might just be them making sure they can hit whatever deadline they promise.
Reassessment of lineup based on performance
I don’t know how well last year’s books performed when it comes to sales, but I am aware of the reception. Lukewarm is probably the best way to describe it. They were decent enough books, but nothing to get excited about. This is very much reflected in my own reviews of Heroes of Faerun and Forge of the Artificer.
In fact, quality issues seem to have become commonplace in recent years. I maintain that the 2024 core rulebooks were very much of a high quality, but that has been something of an exception lately. Spelljammer was universally slated, Planescape was only OK, the expanded Mines of Phandelver campaign was considered very poor and Vecna: Eve of Ruin landed flat too.
As such, WOTC may be reassessing how they create and produce books. Maybe there needs to be some fundamental direction changes that need addressing. If they need time to do that, then that’s OK if it’s going to mean better products.
With all of this context (and perhaps many other things we don’t know about), it’s perhaps understandable that we haven’t yet been given concrete release dates for any of 2026’s lineup.
What could WOTC release for D&D this year?
This doesn’t mean that we know nothing and that we can’t infer what’s coming based on recent comments and playtests. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do!
Dark Sun to be the next new setting
We recently had an Unearthed Arcana for 4 apocalyptic subclasses. Now apocalypses (or near apocalypses) probably happen all the time in D&D campaigns, but one subclass in particular hinted very strongly at a potential return for Dark Sun. That would be the sorcerer-king patron warlock. And what setting has a sorcerer-king? Well that would be Dark Sun.
All the other subclasses could easily fit into a Dark Sun setting too like the gladiator fighter, circle of preservation druid and the defiled sorcery sorcerer.
It’s possible that the Psion class we’ve had from the Psion Unearthed Arcana could fit into this setting too, but it could also be something entirely separate.
A return to Ravenloft could be on the cards
Last year, we saw WOTC return to settings it has already covered in 5e 2014. In this case it was Eberron. Instead of giving us a whole new setting guide, we got an additional supplement in Forge of the Artificer. Based on the Horror subclasses UA, I think that’s what we might also see with Ravenloft.
Subclasses like the college of spirits, hollow warden and the reanimator fit perfectly with the ghostly suburbs of Mordent, the jungle wilderness of Valachan and the body horror of Lamordia. Of course, we could be getting a book dedicated to the Shadowfell or simply one dedicated to dark fantasy, but I think based on what they’ve done so far, a Ravenloft supplement is more likely.
Some kind of arcane supplement
Back in June 2025, WOTC released the arcane Unearthed Arcana and just a couple of days ago, they released the mystic Unearthed Arcana. This could be hinting at an arcane specific supplement, perhaps more like Xanathar’s and Tasha’s guides. This might include these subclasses as well as new spells, magic items and maybe even the Psion class too.
The usual adventure anthology
Wizards seem to have found a good rhythm with the adventure anthologies that started with Candlekeep mysteries. I suspect they may stick to a similar format. This seems to be becoming a mainstay of their release calendar.
A campaign book?
WOTC skipped a full length campaign from their roster last year, but these have normally been a yearly occurrence. We have seen them become a bit more shy about creating more detailed adventures (much to mine and many other’s frustration). I’m hoping this was a symptom of releasing an entire rulebook update and not a sign of things to come.
3rd party setting
I’m not sure we have much evidence that this is incoming this year, but a while back, someone at Wizards said they were exploring more 3rd party tie ins. I’d love to see this and it could be an absolute cash cow for them. Imagine placing D&D rules onto a Witcher, Zelda or Elden Ring setting. Could be a brilliant way to reinvigorate players and bring in new fans from those franchises.
Those are my predictions for what WOTC might be releasing this year. Hopefully we’ll find out what they’ve got cooking soon but if they need a bit more time to make sure they’re making the best products possible, I’m OK with that. I think they need a bit of a rethink based on recent releases so a bit more time to do this may not be a bad thing.
