Closing the Chapter on Sigil, and Thanking the Community

We have made the difficult decision to end development on Sigil. This was not a decision made lightly, and it followed months of reflection with all teams involved. We’re deeply grateful to everyone who explored Sigil with us and shared in its journey. Your passion and feedback meant the world.

You can continue running your campaigns as usual until the end of October 2026. All features and tier access will remain the same during that time. At the end of October, 2026, Sigil's servers will shut down, and content created within Sigil will no longer be accessible. We know many of you built incredible adventures in Sigil, and we’re grateful for the imagination and effort that brought them to life.

Surprising nobody.

Began it with the intention of being a microtransaction hell, cut nearly all the dev staff down to just a few people - way too few to maintain properly, and even when released was a buggy mess that many people could never use and was very restrictive on what operating systems it could run on.

So, yeah, not a surprise. What a wasted potential. This could have been great - a 3D VTT with direct connection to your D&D Beyond content - no need for separate VTTs and browser extensions? Would have been amazing when fully realised. All gone due to too many poor decisions by the company. Such a shame.

FYI, that link goes to a forum thread, the actual announcement is here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/2086-closing-the-chapter-on-sigil-and-thanking-the

I knew it was doomed the second I pressed launch on the demo. Every component fan and internal temperature on my gaming PC shot up to maximum, yet the frame rate still remained low.

When selling software to a community which largely isn't made up of video game enthusiasts, said software needs to pass the potato test. As in it needs to be able to run on an actual potato in order to succeed as a product.

Quote from wagnarokkr >>

FYI, that link goes to a forum thread, the actual announcement is here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/2086-closing-the-chapter-on-sigil-and-thanking-the

 
Thanks. Sorry about that, copy-paste gone wrong. 😂

Quote from Comrade_Jenkens >>

When selling software to a community which largely isn't made up of video game enthusiasts, said software needs to pass the potato test. As in it needs to be able to run on an actual potato in order to succeed as a product.

I think they probably thought the overlap between video gamers and D&D players was larger than it was. There was some unofficial commentary from someone who worked on it that indicated that the management was trying to duplicate the success of Baldur's Gate 3 and didn't really grasp the difference between something like that and a VTT like Sigil was trying to be.

That's sad. That was one of main reasons I joined, was to experience a 3D map adventure, as opposed to the 2D types. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Quote from Comrade_Jenkens >>

I knew it was doomed the second I pressed launch on the demo. Every component fan and internal temperature on my gaming PC shot up to maximum, yet the frame rate still remained low.

When selling software to a community which largely isn't made up of video game enthusiasts, said software needs to pass the potato test. As in it needs to be able to run on an actual potato in order to succeed as a product.

I am not sure it necessarily needed to run on a potato, but it certainly should have been able to run on a couple-year-old integrated graphics card on a laptop CPU.  I think my target might have been something like the Sims 4 meets Skyrim - both of those games are able to run on a lot of modern non-gaming computers while providing similar functionality (the building components of the Sims) and perfectly acceptable graphics (Skyrim might not be, say Baldur's gate - but it still has perfectly passable 3D graphics).

Sigil is a very expensive object lesson in really bad judgement.  Neat concept ruined by absolutely terrible development creep. 

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Quote from Comrade_Jenkens >>

I knew it was doomed the second I pressed launch on the demo. Every component fan and internal temperature on my gaming PC shot up to maximum, yet the frame rate still remained low.

When selling software to a community which largely isn't made up of video game enthusiasts, said software needs to pass the potato test. As in it needs to be able to run on an actual potato in order to succeed as a product.

 

I am not sure it necessarily needed to run on a potato, but it certainly should have been able to run on a couple-year-old integrated graphics card on a laptop CPU.  I think my target might have been something like the Sims 4 meets Skyrim - both of those games are able to run on a lot of modern non-gaming computers while providing similar functionality (the building components of the Sims) and perfectly acceptable graphics (Skyrim might not be, say Baldur's gate - but it still has perfectly passable 3D graphics).

Sigil is a very expensive object lesson in really bad judgement.  Neat concept ruined by absolutely terrible development creep. 

There is no shortage of criticism of Sims 4, though, despite the nigh complete lack of real competitors in that genre. Trying to run that and additionally make npcs that have the depth even of a Baldur's Gate game, but on a bigger scale, and DM programable would be a lot tougher.

Quote from MPA >>

That's sad. That was one of main reasons I joined, was to experience a 3D map adventure, as opposed to the 2D types. 🤷🏿‍♂️

 Talespire is still working well.  :)

Quote from Mr_Helix >>

Quote from MPA >>

That's sad. That was one of main reasons I joined, was to experience a 3D map adventure, as opposed to the 2D types. 🤷🏿‍♂️

 Talespire is still working well.  :)

 Game Master Engine is another great option. I think they are very similar (I have both), but the thing I do like about GME is that the GM only has to buy it once (50$) and players get access for free. Talespire requires the GM to buy their player seats (or at least that was the case when I bought it) for 15$ per seat and a GM entry of 25$. That is really my only main complaint about TS though. I like their models a tad more over GME, but GME is still pretty good. 

hmmm, slightly sooner than I expected. oh well.

I have to agree with those saying it needed to run on a potato. If even 1 person in your group can’t use it, then effectively the whole group can’t use it. I’m certainly going to find another option, rather than kick out the person who can’t afford even a mid-range desktop. 

Sigil, and indeed: most 3D VTTs generally feel to me a bit like "A product that sounds better in theory than it is in practice" or like all those old scifi movies/shows where we see "cyberspace" as "walking down a virtual store-lined street and reading your virtual newspaper"; it's an idea that's WAY harder to actually "make usable" than it seems.

Even leaving its obvious performance and quality of life issues to one side: as a DM; "crafting a 3d environment" for a single or couple sessions sounds like a MASSIVE time and effort investment above and beyond waht one already has to do to run a game.  Set-up is already tricky in 2 dimensions on a VTT, nevermind in 3.  Is it "cool" to see?  Oh yeah; is it something I'd want to do week to week?  Oh boy no.

Personally: I'm honestly kind of glad WOTC's attempts to "Gamify" D&D seem to be sputtering out; micro-transactions in gaming have gotten bad enough without my other hobbies getting in on the fun of beating my wallet with pipes in a back alley.

I also agree that the VTT needs to run smoothly on as many devices. Even if you normally play on great PCs that can run anything, some days somebody might be on a holiday or out of town and don't have access to their PC but they are likely to still have a good smartphone or tablet - do you have to play without that person, which seems mean, find a new VTT for that session, seems laborious, or skip the whole session, seems disappointing. 

You don't need fancy 3D things with animations and stuff. Accessibility is more important. 

Quote from wagnarokkr >>

Quote from Comrade_Jenkens >>

When selling software to a community which largely isn't made up of video game enthusiasts, said software needs to pass the potato test. As in it needs to be able to run on an actual potato in order to succeed as a product.

I think they probably thought the overlap between video gamers and D&D players was larger than it was. There was some unofficial commentary from someone who worked on it that indicated that the management was trying to duplicate the success of Baldur's Gate 3 and didn't really grasp the difference between something like that and a VTT like Sigil was trying to be.

 I’m sure we’ll get a full warts and all reveal of what went on behind the scenes at some point in the future but at the moment from odd comments made I think this is it. The Hasbro brass didn’t understand what a VTT was and Chris Cao was selling them another Baldur’s Gate 3 made up of wishes and fairy dust when it was never going to be that. Even some of the D&D players I know who have only ever played in person weren’t entirely sure what a VTT was and thought Sigil was a computer game that they could play by themselves so I’m not entirely surprised by the confusion 

Quote from Cyb3rM1nd >>

I also agree that the VTT needs to run smoothly on as many devices. Even if you normally play on great PCs that can run anything, some days somebody might be on a holiday or out of town and don't have access to their PC but they are likely to still have a good smartphone or tablet - do you have to play without that person, which seems mean, find a new VTT for that session, seems laborious, or skip the whole session, seems disappointing. 

You don't need fancy 3D things with animations and stuff. Accessibility is more important. 

 The issue is that the market for that is pretty crowded. Customers are pretty "sticky" because it's significant effort to switch, so DDB needs to offer something substantially better. They decided to go for "premium and high end". There's a reason why there isn't already a VTT occupying that niche for D&D, but that's only recently sunk in. I don't think it's a coincidence thath they're now making Maps available to all rather than dangling it as bait for a subscription.

Quote from Xalthu >>

I have to agree with those saying it needed to run on a potato. If even 1 person in your group can’t use it, then effectively the whole group can’t use it. I’m certainly going to find another option, rather than kick out the person who can’t afford even a mid-range desktop. 

 Have to echo the point that performance was probably a major issue with Sigil; from experience, even relatively light VTTs like Roll20 can be resource hogs for those with less than ideal hardware.  As I said in my post: is it "cool" to say: tap some buttons and see a "real" fireball spell go off on a 3D environment?  Sure!  Is it "cool enough" to warrant everyone in a group of 4-5+ people buying new PCs and the graphics cards to go with them?  Definitely no.

Quote from CaptainCorvid >>

Even leaving its obvious performance and quality of life issues to one side: as a DM; "crafting a 3d environment" for a single or couple sessions sounds like a MASSIVE time and effort investment above and beyond waht one already has to do to run a game.  Set-up is already tricky in 2 dimensions on a VTT, nevermind in 3.  Is it "cool" to see?  Oh yeah; is it something I'd want to do week to week?  Oh boy no.

Personally: I'm honestly kind of glad WOTC's attempts to "Gamify" D&D seem to be sputtering out; micro-transactions in gaming have gotten bad enough without my other hobbies getting in on the fun of beating my wallet with pipes in a back alley.

 It was pretty easy and straightforward to make simple dungeon maps with it, you just placed walls etc where you wanted them, pretty similar to how you would do it with physical terrain pieces. It had the same limitations if you wanted customization and that could take time. But it was easy and quick for me and I am not a computer savy person. I didnt see this as gamifying either, at least at the state it is now it has little automation, which I actually liked. It is pretty close to the physical game as far as building or moving your mini goes. I wouldnt have needed much more.

I had a lot of hope for it as someone who enjoys using 3D maps. Dimension20 was the show that really turned me on to them. A shame to see the end of a high end virtual tabletop, but I am glad to still have options out there.