The Dungeons & Dragons game that was being developed by Giant Skull has been cancelled due to Hasbro ending its publishing deal with the studio. According to Bloomberg, both companies confirmed the deal ending this week, with Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast having pulled out of the deal earlier this year.
A spokesperson said that the decision was made after assessing the project at every stage of its development. Despite this, the spokesperson also noted that the company values its ongoing relationship with Giant Skull studio head and industry veteran Stig Asmussen.
“We assess concepts at every stage of development,” said the Wizards of the Coast spokesperson. “While we decided not to pursue an early concept from Giant Skull, we have great respect for Stig Asmussen and his team and value our ongoing relationship.”
In the meantime, Asmussen has also confirmed that things have been going well at Giant Skull and that he is exploring other potential partnerships to secure a publishing deal for the studio’s projects. “Things are good at Giant Skull,” he said.
Giant Skull was founded by Asmussen back in 2024. A veteran of the industry and having worked on projects like God of War 3, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Asmussen had formed the studio after having left Respawn Entertainment in September 2023. The studio is made up of quite a few gaming industry veterans who have previously worked at major companies like Riot Games, Rocksteady Studios, and Epic Games.
“The Giant Skull studio culture is focused on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen said when announcing the studio. “We have assembled a talented team renowned for immersive storytelling, heroic combat, and exhilarating traversal, and our goal is to craft a rich universe that players will want to lose themselves in for years to come.”
Few details had been revealed about the Dungeons & Dragons project that was being developed at Giant Skull. Among these things was the fact that it wasn’t going to be a new game in the Baldur’s Gate franchise. Wizards of the Coast president John Hight confirmed that the company was exploring the idea for the future, but Asmussen’s team was working on something else entirely.
“Baldur’s Gate is an incredible game,” said Hight. “And of course, we’re going to do a successor. This is not the successor to that game. We go to Stig and his team to tell an incredible story and bring D&D to a very broad audience. Ideally, the game will appeal to D&D players because it will help them realise their imagination. But it’s also going to hopefully appeal to people that love playing action games, that love the Jedi games, that love God of War games.”
“D&D, as Stig said, it’s a playground and it really is for everyone. Hundreds of millions of people have either played D&D or been aware of D&D, and we want to perpetuate that for the next 50 years.”
Asmussen had also noted that the title was going to feature better animations than games like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
