So we’ve now got two bits of news about who is filling some of the senior roles at D&D in the wake of a few big names leaving during 2025. A few weeks back we had the announcement Justice Arman would be promoted to the post of Design Director after several years of working for WotC and it’s just been announced that James Haeck, a former freelancer who worked on several titles for WotC, Darrington Press and Ghostfire Gaming, as well as being former lead writer for D&D Beyond before the WotC buyout, would be taking the role of Senior Designer.
So what are everyone’s thoughts? Now we’ve got a couple of people in charge of creation maybe we’ll finally get some announcements about what they’ll release in 2026
I think this is a super promising line-up and I am excited for what they can do and the somewhat fresh perspectives they bring.
Arman (spelling error in OP) was lead designer in Quests from the Infinite Staircase, co-lead on Planescape, as well as worked on some other great products like Golden Vault and Radiant Citadel. i rather liked all these products, particularly the fact that they felt very D&D, while still exploring the game through the lens of other perspectives and cultures. One of the things Crawford mentioned before leaving - and which a lot of players noted - is that the leadership at WotC was a bit stagnant and set in their perspectives, leading to somewhat stale products. Arman seems like a good cure for that problem. That said, I have some concerns with his only having a bit over three years of institutional knowledge of WotC, but I am glad one of the two positions was filled with an internal promotion to give some continuity to the team.
Haeck seems like a great choice. While I do not play in the campaign setting of Exandria, I think the mechanical perspective he added to those books is really great. For example, a lot of the subclasses feel fairly commensurate in power with official content (which cannot be said about many third party products), while still using under-explored resources like hit dice or your life total. Been pleased with his products so far and I am very much looking forward to seeing what he can do at WotC. Just as I am happy one of the people has institutional knowledge, I am glad the other was picked from outside - having a perspective different from purely WotC is going to be useful to ensuring the game continues to develop and grow in new and exciting directions.
Overall, I think this is a very promising set of choices and I am interested to see what comes next.
Glad to see Justice Arman getting done recognition, I’ve really like his stuff.
James Haeck, well, I think they’ve been good with mechanics, but their writing just really grates on me. I remember when they used to write articles here and it was like a fantasy-trope thesaurus exploded all over the page. (My opinion, others may have liked it.)
Either way, I do agree some fresh blood will be nice.
Small reminder that James uses they/them pronouns :)
I'm very excited for this, both as their friend and for what they'll bring to the books in an official capacity. James and I worked together in my freelancer days; I wrote a bit of Critical Role content under their guidance and I've always loved their knowledge and respect for the settings.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Your Friendly Neighborhood Community Manager (she/her) You can call me LT. :)
CM Hat On| CM Hat Off Generally active from 9am - 6pm CDT [GMT-5]. Thank you for your patience if you message me outside of those hours!
So what are everyone’s thoughts? Now we’ve got a couple of people in charge of creation maybe we’ll finally get some announcements about what they’ll release in 2026
Unexpected good choices from Hasbro honestly. I sort of was expecting some white het cis guy with a degree in economics from yale and 10 years experince running a video game company into the ground to take over. So to see two people who do not fit this mold to be honestly more than I can expect from Hasbro after the last 5 years of making multiple bad choices for WotC. Hopefully making good choices will become the norm again.
Thanks for pointing that out. Leon (They/Them) seems to have a similar resume to James, started on DM's Guild, bounced around a few third party publishers as a freelancer. Exciting times with a lot of new ideas coming into the D&D team but it also feels odd that Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford left quite a while ago and are only just now being replaced. Makes me wonder if the very noticeable silence about upcoming releases is because there's been no one to actually decide on what's coming
Thanks for pointing that out. Leon (They/Them) seems to have a similar resume to James, started on DM's Guild, bounced around a few third party publishers as a freelancer. Exciting times with a lot of new ideas coming into the D&D team but it also feels odd that Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford left quite a while ago and are only just now being replaced. Makes me wonder if the very noticeable silence about upcoming releases is because there's been no one to actually decide on what's coming
Well, traditionally, WotC lays people off in December. So, with folks leaving on their own, maybe management decided to go a different route this time.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
So we’ve now got two bits of news about who is filling some of the senior roles at D&D in the wake of a few big names leaving during 2025. A few weeks back we had the announcement Justice Arman would be promoted to the post of Design Director after several years of working for WotC and it’s just been announced that James Haeck, a former freelancer who worked on several titles for WotC, Darrington Press and Ghostfire Gaming, as well as being former lead writer for D&D Beyond before the WotC buyout, would be taking the role of Senior Designer.
So what are everyone’s thoughts? Now we’ve got a couple of people in charge of creation maybe we’ll finally get some announcements about what they’ll release in 2026
EDITED for spelling error
I think this is a super promising line-up and I am excited for what they can do and the somewhat fresh perspectives they bring.
Arman (spelling error in OP) was lead designer in Quests from the Infinite Staircase, co-lead on Planescape, as well as worked on some other great products like Golden Vault and Radiant Citadel. i rather liked all these products, particularly the fact that they felt very D&D, while still exploring the game through the lens of other perspectives and cultures. One of the things Crawford mentioned before leaving - and which a lot of players noted - is that the leadership at WotC was a bit stagnant and set in their perspectives, leading to somewhat stale products. Arman seems like a good cure for that problem. That said, I have some concerns with his only having a bit over three years of institutional knowledge of WotC, but I am glad one of the two positions was filled with an internal promotion to give some continuity to the team.
Haeck seems like a great choice. While I do not play in the campaign setting of Exandria, I think the mechanical perspective he added to those books is really great. For example, a lot of the subclasses feel fairly commensurate in power with official content (which cannot be said about many third party products), while still using under-explored resources like hit dice or your life total. Been pleased with his products so far and I am very much looking forward to seeing what he can do at WotC. Just as I am happy one of the people has institutional knowledge, I am glad the other was picked from outside - having a perspective different from purely WotC is going to be useful to ensuring the game continues to develop and grow in new and exciting directions.
Overall, I think this is a very promising set of choices and I am interested to see what comes next.
I hope we get some news soon.
Glad to see Justice Arman getting done recognition, I’ve really like his stuff.
James Haeck, well, I think they’ve been good with mechanics, but their writing just really grates on me. I remember when they used to write articles here and it was like a fantasy-trope thesaurus exploded all over the page. (My opinion, others may have liked it.)
Either way, I do agree some fresh blood will be nice.
-
View User Profile
-
View Posts
-
Send Message
D&D StaffSmall reminder that James uses they/them pronouns :)
I'm very excited for this, both as their friend and for what they'll bring to the books in an official capacity. James and I worked together in my freelancer days; I wrote a bit of Critical Role content under their guidance and I've always loved their knowledge and respect for the settings.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Community Manager (she/her)
You can call me LT. :)
CM Hat On | CM Hat Off
Generally active from 9am - 6pm CDT [GMT-5].
Thank you for your patience if you message me outside of those hours!
Useful Links: Site Rules & Guidelines | D&D Educator Resources | Change Your Nickname | Submit a Support Ticket
Unexpected good choices from Hasbro honestly. I sort of was expecting some white het cis guy with a degree in economics from yale and 10 years experince running a video game company into the ground to take over. So to see two people who do not fit this mold to be honestly more than I can expect from Hasbro after the last 5 years of making multiple bad choices for WotC. Hopefully making good choices will become the norm again.
They also just hired Leon Barillaro as a game designer. They have a number of small publisher/ freelance design credits.
Thanks for pointing that out. Leon (They/Them) seems to have a similar resume to James, started on DM's Guild, bounced around a few third party publishers as a freelancer. Exciting times with a lot of new ideas coming into the D&D team but it also feels odd that Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford left quite a while ago and are only just now being replaced. Makes me wonder if the very noticeable silence about upcoming releases is because there's been no one to actually decide on what's coming
Well, traditionally, WotC lays people off in December. So, with folks leaving on their own, maybe management decided to go a different route this time.