Sigil, Wizards of the Coast's VTT, Officially Launches

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Sigil, the 3D VTT developed by Wizards of the Coast and formerly known as Project Sigil, has officially launched on Window devices. Today, Wizards of the Coast announced that anyone with a D&D Beyond account (free or paid) can now access Sigil, provided they have a computer with Windows OS. Interestingly, the system's full functionality is based off of D&D Beyond's subscription tiers, with access to create multiplayer rooms and the ability to share and load maps tied to the Master Tier account. Master Tier subscribers also have access to builder kits, custom mini outfits, and unpainted minis. The Sigil client can be downloaded from D&D Beyond.

Sigil has been in development since at least 2023 alongside the launch of the One D&D initiative. One major concern about the new system, which uses Unreal Engine 5 to create 3D battle maps for D&D, was its pricing. At least for now, pricing seems to be tied directly to D&D Beyond subscriptions instead of pushing an additional monetization scheme onto players.

EN World saw a preview build of Sigil earlier this year, with a robust and relatively quick-to-implement map building system. One question that I kept asking while previewing Sigil involved exactly what Wizards wanted Sigil to be, as it functionally appeared to be a level or map builder with some basic D&D automation built into the game. The system doesn't include a full D&D revised 5E engine, but it does contain a significant amount of integration for the app to mimic some of D&D Beyond's dice rolling and resource management system has. It doesn't look like a bad VTT, although it's more appropriate for big set piece battles rather than standard "goblins attack the caravan" type encounters.
 

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Christian Hoffer

Christian Hoffer


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Given how theybeliminated a la Carter purchases on Beyond, I expect packages will be the way Sigil gets monetized, too.
Not sure why they removed those, I doubt it was an anti-microtransaction stance however

From my perspective it can go either way, but I would definitely expect packages of assets and minis. These too could be microtransactions, the line is pretty fluid
 

Not sure why they removed those, I doubt it was an anti-microtransaction stance however

From my perspective it can go either way, but I would definitely expect packages of assets and minis. These too could be microtransactions, the line is pretty fluid
They had stated that very few people actually bought anything a la carte, so it wasn't worth keeping around.

I have no doubt that they will want moneybfor stuff, bit their trend seems to be not microtransactions, but larger packages.
 

They had stated that very few people actually bought anything a la carte, so it wasn't worth keeping around.
so they spent effort removing the option rather than not offering it for new releases?

I heard that too and chances are there is no other reason, maybe they hope people who would have bought a few items now buy the whole thing, otherwise removing them is just money wasted
 

..., otherwise removing them is just money wasted
Unless it cost more money to break out the packages of options than they got from people purchasing those options. It is either that or the "profit" was so little it didn't make senses for basically the same reason. Otherwise, if it was making money for them, why stop it?
 

My guess is that Sigil will be monitized in two ways by WotC

1. To DMs by selling AP sets (like Strahd or Infinite Staircase) that include all the prebuilt maps and minis needed to run the adventure. Expect these to be in the $30-$50 range
2. To PCs by selling upgrades for their PC minis and their Bastions. I'm guessing a lot of $0.99 'micro' purchases.

All of this will be completely optional, the core of Sigil (what is available now) will remain free to PCs and available to DMs with a Master Tier subscription. There will also be a DMsGuild type marketplace to purchase maps and adventures others make.
 


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