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Puzzle & Dragons studio claims former executive embezzled $2.35 million of company funds
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Puzzle & Dragons studio claims former executive embezzled $2.35 million of company funds

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GungHo Online Entertainment, the studio behind Puzzles & Dragons, has claimed that a former senior executive embezzled ¥346 million ($2.35 million) by creating fake work and outsourcing orders to misappropriate company funds.

In a statement released on August 14, 2025 (via Automaton), GungHo Online Entertainment alleged that a former senior executive, who was dismissed for disciplinary reasons, had “engaged in misconduct” over the last few years, including the “misappropriation of company funds through the place of fictitious work orders” (via Google Translate).

“The company became aware of the suspicion of fraudulent activity by the former employee and conducted an initial investigation with the support of forensic teams from external law and accounting firms to determine whether the former employee had engaged in fraudulent activity and to clarify the facts of the matter,” GungHo Online Entertainment wrote in the statement.

GungHo Online Entertainment goes on to allege that, as a result of this initial investigation, it “confirmed” the former employee had embezzled approximately ¥246 million ($1.67 million) of company funds by using a third-party job-ordering service to create “fictitious work orders” which named the company as the client and the former employee as the contractor.

In addition, GungHo Online Entertainment alleges that it “confirmed” the former executive had “fraudulently paid outsourcing fees to a business partner despite the fact that no work had actually been performed,” resulting in a further loss of ¥100 million ($680,000).

In response, the company formed an internal investigation team, led by two independent, external auditors and supported by forensic teams from external law and accounting firms.

The investigation has been conducting interviews with those involved and aimed to provide a “detailed investigation into the facts of the fraudulent conduct in question through digital forensics of the devices used by the former employee.”

The team has also been investigating whether there were any similar cases, “analyzing the causes, and formulating measures to prevent recurrence.”

As a result of this alleged misconduct, the employee in question was dismissed on July 24, 2025.

GungHo Online Entertainment claimed in its statement that the alleged fraud was “maliciously and independently committed by the former employee, who was a senior executive with discretion and authority.” The company also claimed the former employee “engaged in cover-up efforts to avoid detection.”

In the statement, GungHo Online Entertainment revealed that it “has been consulting with investigative authorities and holding discussions regarding filing criminal charges.”

“The company is currently in concrete discussions regarding the acceptance of charges against the former employee and is fully cooperating with the investigative activities of the investigative authorities,” the statement reads.

“Therefore, in consideration of the potential hindrance to the investigative activities, the company will refrain from disclosing the details of this misconduct.”

GungHo Online Entertainment apologised for the “inconvenience and concern” the alleged incident may have caused to relevant parties, but said the impact on the company’s financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, is expected to be “minor.”

GungHo Online Entertainment is currently facing a shareholder revolt, with the company due to hold an extraordinary general meeting on September 24, 2025, where shareholders will vote on whether to oust its current CEO and president, Kazuki Morishita.



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Leaked footage of "paused" Dungeons & Dragons RPG shows the thing doing a thing with the stuff
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Leaked footage of “paused” Dungeons & Dragons RPG shows the thing doing a thing with the stuff

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Some footage from a reportedly cancelled Dungeons and Dragons RPG from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive co-developers Hidden Path Entertainment has surfaced online, alongside concept art.

All of it paints a vague picture of a work-in-progress game – which was being assembled under the watchful eye of a Wizards of the Coast that’s currently facing a post-Larian Baldur’s Gate conundrum – that looked a bit like a bunch of the big fantasy RPGs we’ve gotten in recent years.

If you need a quick refresher, this unannounnced Hidden Path D&D game was reported as having been cancelled alongside a bunch of other stuff at WoTC back in 2023, only for the studio to then refute that reporting. Then, last year, Hidden Path creative director Michael Austin posted on LinkedIn that they had made the call to “pause development on that project and reduce the company size until we have an opportunity to return to it”. 44 devs lost their jobs.

Now, this footage (via MP1st) has come out, and looks to have been put together by a music supervisor on the game, which was codenamed Project Dante. It shows off a party of three adventurers, made up of the player and two companions, putting a bunch of bandits to the sword in third person combat that looks quite Dragon Age: The Veilguardy to me.

They then do some puzzles to get the magical water flowing at a temple, explore a bit, and towards the end things get pretty cutsceney with a group of folks chilling in a tavern, before ending with the player sneakily watching a group of NPCs sing while crouching in some grass. I hope they at least tossed the crooning crew a coin as a tip after taking that last bit in.

Overall, not much sticks out to me as beyond what you might expect from a big fantasy RPG like this, though the concept art does have a very nice picture of a flying cat, or a Tressym to give the furry boi its proper name.

Well, I say that, but while the temple puzzling’s going on one of the companions – named Kavar – does say the line “The thing is starting to do a thing with the stuff”. It’s not really noteworthy, maybe a tiny bit eye-roll inducing, but I got a kick out of it.

If this D&D RPG had made it to release rather than that paused/cancelled limbo, I could see myself quoting it to mates in a fashion I’m sure they wouldn’t find irritating whatsoever.



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Game of Thrones: War For Westeros cinematic trailer preview of one of the dragons, it's flying over head in the dark and lighting up ground units
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Game of Thrones RTS has a dragon R&D team dedicated to answering burning questions like ‘do the dragons explode when they die?’

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HBO’s first Game of Thrones series didn’t feature nearly enough dragon scenes, if you ask me. My favorite mythical beasties mostly showed up for a passing greeting or to die within seconds, but it sounds like that’s a problem PlaySide’s upcoming RTS, Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, could remedy.

“The dragons have been a big focus for us,” game director Ryan McMahon told me during a Summer Game Fest interview. “We’ve actually got a bit of an R&D team specifically for dragons. People, as well as projects, that are dedicated to just making the dragons.”

(Image credit: PlaySide Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive)

Even as someone who read and watched it all, I’m still impressed by how thorough and intense fans get in Game of Thrones lore debates. McMahon said the PlaySide team finds themselves in many of those same debates, which are complicated by unreliable character sources and differences between the books and shows.


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There’s one question in particular they’ve spent ages debating: What happens when a dragon dies?

McMahon didn’t seem fully committed to any one theory just yet, but clearly wants War for Westeros to investigate those details and how it affects the environment. PlaySide’s global head of marketing and communications, Michael McAlister, even chimed in, explaining the questions that came up as they investigated the precedents set by the books and show.

“The dragons are like bombs,” said McAlister. “The implication is that when a dragon crashes into the ground, it explodes like a nuclear bomb. The back and forth about what actually happens when a dragon isn’t alive is absolutely fascinating.”

(Image credit: PlaySide Studios, Warner Bros. Interactive)

“You know, in House of the Dragon, you’re going to see them die a lot, and there’s usually some sort of explosion. There are things about why they would explode in death,” said McMahon, referencing their fire breath and different deaths throughout the series. “That’s a really interesting debate. Does it [the explosion] happen all the time? Or does it happen at all?”

I can see how that matters when we’re talking strategy on the battlefield. Should I strategically take my own dragon out over an enemy unit so the explosion catches them all? Or do they just sort of crash and roll into the ground? Does it depend on what they hit, like a barrel of explosives? If I get to determine how some iconic Game of Thrones battles play out, then the flying Targaryen beasts will star in them all.

Game of Thrones: War for Westeros – The War Begins | Reveal Dev Diary – YouTube

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The original HBO series had its fair share of impressive dragon talent, too, but CGI ain’t free, so they were often relegated to offscreen adventures and distant roaring. Naturally, House of the Dragon has given them a little more airtime, but don’t count on War for Westeros including anything from the prequel, at least not yet.

When I asked if we’d see more characters from the books or HBO’s House of the Dragon, McMahon clarified War for Westeros “is just for the Game of Thrones IP” since the newer series is a separate license. Though he added, “That doesn’t mean that’s what we’re going to do forever.”



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Critical Role's Darrington Press Hires Two Legendary Dungeons & Dragons Game Designers
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Critical Role’s Darrington Press Hires Two Legendary Dungeons & Dragons Game Designers

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Today, Darrington Press, Critical Role’s tabletop role-playing game publisher, announced it has hired Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, two of the lead designers for Dungeons and Dragons who recently departed the company. Perkins and Crawford will now serve as Darrington Press’ Creative Director and Game Director, respectively, according to an announcement on the company’s website.

This is a massive shakeup for the TTRPG world. Critical Role, known for its livestreamed games of Dungeons & Dragons played by high-profile voice actors, launched Darrington Press in 2020. While the company’s first projects were Critical Role adjacent, this year it released Daggerheart, a standalone role-playing game designed to compete with Dungeons & Dragons and other similar games. The cast is currently in the midst of a mini-arc using the game system, and fans have speculated the company might intend to move away from D&D entirely one day.

Daggerheart, the tabletop role-playing game from Critical Role, is a system that uses dice and cards to tell stories in a fantasy setting.

By bringing on Crawford and Perkins, Darrington Press’s pedigree increases significantly. The two have worked at Wizards of the Coast for many years (Crawford for 18, Perkins for 28), and are considered two of the primary architects behind Dungeons and Dragons’ extremely popular fifth edition and its 2024 overhaul of that ruleset. The designers were public spokespeople for the brand as well, appearing in videos to explain new books or playtests and even clarifying rules on social media. Shortly after the new books were released, however, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford each announced they had decided to leave the company.

Their jump to Darrington is an unexpected move, to say the least, but it seems Wizards of the Coast was aware of the transition, making a point to congratulate the move on Bluesky. The pair also did an interview with The Los Angeles Times explaining their decision process and generally praising the Critical Role team.

The two will be “developing novel game concepts as well as expanding the games [Darrington has] released so far,” according to the announcement. This likely involves additions to Daggerheart, which launched a few weeks ago. For more Daggerheart and its inspirations, you can read our interview with its lead game designer, Spenser Starke. 



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How To Train Your Dragon's Steelbook Edition Includes A Collectible Medallion
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How To Train Your Dragon’s Steelbook Edition Includes A Collectible Medallion

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The live-action remake of How to Train Your Dragon hits theaters this weekend, but fans can already start thinking about adding it to their media shelves. Preorders for the remake and a two-movie collection with the original animated hit are live now at major retailers. Big fans will want to check out the eye-catching Limited Edition Steelbook on 4K Blu-ray, which is available to preorder for $40 at Amazon and comes with a collectible medallion inside the case. We’ll update this story when a release date and details about special features are announced.

Here’s a list of the seven editions of How to Train Your Dragon available to preorder at Amazon and Walmart.

Below, you can take a closer look at the Limited Edition Steelbook, 2-Movie Collection, and other How to Train Your Dragon Blu-rays that are already available today. To learn more about the franchise, read our roundup on the original book series that inspired the DreamWorks series.

$40 at Amazon | $47 at Walmart

The How to Train Your Dragon Limited Edition Steelbook has a striking teal color with bright gold accents. The interior of the case features key art from the remake and slots for the 4K Blu-ray and 1080p Blu-ray discs. You’ll also find a magnetic medallion emblazoned with the same swirling dragon emblem that’s on the case.

We don’t have any information about bonus features just yet, but we’d expect to see the usual assortment of behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, audio commentary, and more.

Amazon currently has lower prices for most editions of How to Train Your Dragon, including the Limited Edition Steelbook. As we get closer to release, we’d expect Amazon and Walmart to offer the same prices. Both retailers offer preorder price guarantees, so you’ll get the best price from the time you order until release and won’t be charged until your preorder ships.

If you don’t care about steelbook cases or magnetic medallions, a regular edition 4K Blu-ray is up for preorder for $30. Standard 1080p Blu-ray preorders are $25, while the DVD edition costs $20.

$40

This collection includes both the original animated version of How to Train Your Dragon and the live-action remake. Unlike the 4K Blu-ray edition of the remake, you won’t get 1080p Blu-ray discs with this one, but it still includes digital copies of both films. We’d expect the 2-Movie Collection to release the same day as the standalone editions above.

Amazon has the 2-Movie Collection for $40, so you’re essentially paying an extra 10 bucks to get the animated original on 4K. The price difference shrinks with the standard Blu-ray combo pack ($30) and DVD ($23).

The How to Train Your Dragon series features three mainline animated films and a lengthy TV series that started on Cartoon Network before moving to Netflix after Season 2 as Dragons: Race to the Edge. The series concluded with 118 episodes across eight seasons.

All three films are available on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray, while physical editions of the TV series have been mostly confined to DVD.

How to Train Your Dragon (2025) Limited Edition Steelbook



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Obsidian's Dungeons & Dragons RPG Neverwinter Nights 2 gets an Enhanced Edition next month
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Obsidian’s Dungeons & Dragons RPG Neverwinter Nights 2 gets an Enhanced Edition next month

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Neverwinter Nights 2 – the 2006 RPG from Obsidian based on D&D 3.5 – is getting an Enhanced Edition, and it’s out next month. ‘Enhanced’ in this case means nicer textures, camera improvements, Steam Deck and controller compatibility, and Steam Workshop mod integration. It’s out next month, July 15th.

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It also includes three story expansions. If that’s simply not enough Neverwinter Nights for you, there’s a bundle on Steam currently where you can buy both this and the original NN – also in Enhanced Edition form – for 10% off. This would require pre-ordering, however. It’s like I always say: if someone has to bribe you into doing something, it’s surely a brilliant idea. Here’s Steam on the matter of the affairs of the particulars of the videogame at hand:

Return to the city of Neverwinter in Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition. A dark force sweeps over Faerûn, ravaging everything in its path as though searching for something – something that you now find in your possession. As the Shard-Bearer, only you can stop the King of Shadows and his army from desecrating the land you call home. Will you save Faerûn, or fall victim to the temptation of absolute power? When your actions dictate the fate of the Realms, there are no small choices.

I bet there are some small choices, really. That’s just good writing. How do you make the big choices seem big otherwise? Please, consider your hyperbole for one second, advertising blurb.

The previous Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition was handled by Beamdog. They’ve since been gobbled up by Aspyr, themselves a gobbling appendage of chief gobblers Embracer, and it’s Aspyr on both enhancing and publishing duties this time around. Being long in the tooth by now, the Neverwinter Nights games have built up a decent modding community over the years, and the minimal amount of research I’ve done suggests that mods for the original NN worked fine with the 2018 EE. Assuming that’s the case for this new one, it means you’ll be able do things like play the entire Baldur’s Gate 1 campaign inside of it.

Here’s John’s (RPS in peace) diary series A Bastard In Neverwinter if you’re curious to learn how Neverwinter Nights 2 reacts to proto-Dark Urge shenanigans, and also just find the word ‘bastard’ inherently funny enough to force at least once into most articles you write, like some sort of marauding crambastard.



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Dungeons & Dragons Visual Retrospective Is On Sale For As Low As $20
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Dungeons & Dragons Visual Retrospective Is On Sale For As Low As $20

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D&D fans can save big on a really cool special-edition book box set at Amazon. Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History Special Edition is available for only $51.65 (was $125). To get the full $73-plus discount, you need to click the coupon box on the store page to slash an additional $10.05 from the price. Alternatively, you can get the standard hardcover edition for only $19.60 (was $50).

$51.65 (was $125) with coupon

Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History is a 448-page, full-color art book detailing the artistic evolution of the tabletop RPG. It includes concept sketches, official illustrations, photographs, and other material from D&D’s many rulebooks, adventure modules, novels, magazines, and more.

In total, the book contains more than 700 original pieces of art and more than 40 interviews with artists and game designers who have worked on the storied tabletop game over the years.

The Special Edition includes an eye-catching display box with exclusive artwork. Inside the book-like box, you’ll find the actual hardcover as well as 10 art prints, and a pamphlet of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax’s classic Tomb of Horrors adventure module, all within a clamshell case featuring original designs by D&D artist Hydro74.

$19.60 (was $50) with coupon

The standard hardcover version of Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana doesn’t come with any of the extras, but you’re still getting a 448-page tome filled with all of the original artwork and interviews found in the Special Edition.

Make sure to click the coupon box to get the full discount.

Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana: A Visual History Special Edition

Earlier this year, Wizards of the Coast released an updated Monster Manual for D&D’s tabletop game. The Monster Manual joined the updated Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide, both of which received new editions for the first time in a decade.

Dungeons & Dragons fans should also check out the Dragonlance Chronicles Omnibus, which released earlier this year and has sold out multiple times since. On sale for $26 (was $35), Dragonlance Chronicles is a 1,000-plus page hardcover collecting the first three novels in the beloved fantasy series set in the world of D&D. Written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and originally published in the mid-1980s, this trio of Dragonlance novels are must-reads for anyone who enjoys Dungeons & Dragons fiction.

For more book deals, check out Amazon’s B1G1 Free Book Sale (June 2025).

which Amazon just restocked after selling out at launch in February. It also happens to be discounted to $28 (was $35). Dragonlance Chronicles is a 1,000-plus page hardcover book compiling the first three books in the beloved fantasy series set in the world of D&D. Fans should also consider The World of Dragonlance Book Bundle at Humble, which lets you get 26 novels for only $18.

For more fantasy book deals, take a look at our roundups of Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan novels that are featured in Amazon’s B2G1 Free Book Sale.



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Baldur's Gate IP overlords Wizards of the Coast reveal a new Dungeons & Dragons single-player action adventure
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Baldur’s Gate IP overlords Wizards of the Coast reveal a new Dungeons & Dragons single-player action adventure

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With Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian now off doing their own thing and making multiple games that aren’t Baldur’s Gate 4, BG IP owners Wizards of the Coast have just revealed something that might help fill that void. They’ve agreed to a publishing deal that’ll see relatively new studio Giant Skull create a new game set in the D&D universe.

Giant Skull were founded by Stig Asmussen, director of stuff like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and God of War 3, back in March 2024, and said way back then that it’d be aiming to make “gameplay-driven, story-immersed action-adventure games”.

Well, they get points for sticking to that goal thus far. This WotC-published game they’re working on (thanks, Gematsu) is an “all-new, single-player action adventure title set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons” that’ll be coming to console and PC at some point between now and the end of time.

“Our talented and experienced team at Giant Skull is built on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen said in a press release, “Our goal is to craft a rich new Dungeons & Dragons universe filled with immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal that players will fully embrace.”

“In our time working together on God of War I got to see firsthand Stig’s artistry and expertise, and he and the Giant Skull team are the perfect fit for our new game,” added Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro digital gaming president John Hight, “Worldbuilding and storytelling is in our DNA, and this collaboration reflects our evolution and commitment to our Playing to Win Strategy, building a stronger presence in digital play. We look forward to revealing more about this brand-new Dungeons & Dragons game in the future.”

So, concrete details about the game and what it’ll end up looking like are pretty scarce right now – as you’d expect for a thing that’s only just tied the publishing knot. There’s no indication of how it may or may not be tied to the BG games we’ve already gotten, or whether any of the characters BG3 famously inspired War and Peace-length fanfictions about will star in it.

Given the fact it hasn’t been declared an RPG, it could well turn out to have very little in common with BG3, aside from the obvious D&D connection. We’ll just have to wait, ponder our orbs like those coastal wizards, and see.



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Star Wars Jedi director's new studio is working on a single-player Dungeons & Dragons game
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Star Wars Jedi director’s new studio is working on a single-player Dungeons & Dragons game

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Giant Skull, the studio founded by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and God of War 3 game director Stig Asmussen last year, has signed a deal to create a new single-player action-adventure set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.


Asmussen announced his departure from Star Wars Jedi developer Respawn Entertainment back in 2023, when it was said he was waving goodbye in order to “pursue other adventures”. Seven months later and Giant Skull was unveiled to the public with the goal of “building gameplay-driven, story immersed action-adventure games set in captivating worlds”.


And the first of those worlds, it now transpires, will be a familiar one to RPG fans; Wizards of the Coast has announced it’s signed a deal with Giant Skull to create an “all-new, single-player action-adventure title set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons”. Details are limited at this seemingly early juncture, but we do know it’s in development for PC and console using Unreal Engine 5, with more information promised “at a later date”.


“Our talented and experienced team at Giant Skull is built on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen wrote in a statement accompanying today’s announcement. “Our goal is to craft a rich new Dungeons & Dragons universe filled with immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal that players will fully embrace.”


Giant Skull’s new game is just one of a number of Dungeons & Dragons titles confirmed to be in development over the last few years. Payday developer Starbreeze, for instance, is working on a co-op live-service game currently expected to release in 2026, while Disney Dreamlight Valley studio Game Loft is developing a co-op adventure built around “real-time survival and action”. And then there’s a triple-A Unreal Engine 5 project from Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance developer Invoke Studios, first announced back in 2022.


It’s a busy time in the world of Dungeons & Dragons games, then, and amid all this, Wizards of the Coast’s search for a new studio to take on the Baldur’s Gate series following developer Larian’s departure seemingly continues.



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