A new D&D game launches on PS5, Xbox Series X and PC in June

A new D&D game launches on PS5, Xbox Series X and PC in June

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is coming up, with a June 22 release date confirmed by Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of the cross-media D&D franchise. The D&D RPG will land on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, for a cross-platform release on old and new consoles. However, as of March 16, today as of this writing, it is available for pre-order via the Dark Alliance website for €39.99 / €39.99 / €33.49. There is also a "Retail Exclusive Steelbook Edition for €59.99 / €59.99 / €49.99 at select retailers" which includes "Steelbook Case, Printed Artbook, Soundtrack and Dragons of Dungeons downloadable, a Beholder and Lich weapon set, and the upcoming expansion 'Echoes of the Blood War', meaning anyone who wants to get in on the DLC early can do so. Of course, there is a digital deluxe edition with most of the same benefits, but currently for the same price. We're also told that "all pre-orders, regardless of edition or platform, will receive an exclusive in-game Beholder weapon set at launch." Dark Alliance is technically a reboot of the 2001 Dungeons & Dragons video game, inspired by the Icewind Dale: Rhyme of the Frostmaiden source book released last September. As an action RPG, players can expect plenty of hack and slash combat, with the option to choose from a variety of pre-made characters, including the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden and his fellow barbarians, marauders, and clerics, so you don't get the customization of Baldur's Gate 3 or Cyberpunk 2077. It's designed with the cooperative experience in mind, like playing D&D around a table, but with a single player mode included as well.

There is no doorman here

Dark Alliance makes history as the first D&D game released by Wizards of the Coast, rather than being licensed to third-party developers, as with Baldur's Gate 3, which is released by Larian Studios. However, it might be difficult to draw attention to the new Baldur's Gate game, given that it launched in Early Access in October 2020 and generated hype and players in the months that followed. Dark Alliance is also set in the Forgotten Realms, though there are some key differences between it and Baldur's Gate 3; namely the "real-time combat and dynamic cooperative play", rather than the latter's turn-based system. But there is more! The popularity of D&D 5E (Fifth Edition) is sparking a new boom in D&D computer games. In December 2019, Wizards of the Coast president Chris Cocks confirmed that "seven or eight" video games based on the world of Dungeons & Dragons were in different stages of development. We know that developer Hidden Path Entertainment is also working on a "AAA third-person open-world fantasy RPG" set in the D&D multiverse.