News Roundup: WOTC Declines to Recognize Union

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Hey all! A lot of news this week. We have VTubers, union politics, new updates for Avatar, and more! I’m also launching an official Ko-fi page to help fund this project going forward. But we’ll get straight to it!

Wizards of the Coast Declines to Recognize Union, Says They Will Respect Results

As we reported last week, employees from the D&D and Magic: The Gathering teams announced they were forming a union to better represent their interests to Hasbro’s leadership. They had given Hasbro a week to voluntarily recognize the new additions to UWOTC, which formed in June this year from MTG: Arena developers.

Hasbro declined to voluntarily recognize the D&D and Studio X/MTG units, according to UWOTC (to no one’s surprise). Now a National Labor Relations Board vote will be held in the coming weeks and months to determine whether the majority of potential union members actually desire it.

WOTC stated in an email sent to all staff that “it is the right of every eligible employee to decide whether union representation is right for them,” according to a copy acquired by Wargamer. It was far from supportive of the union, however.

WOTC argued that "we are best able to keep building great games and a great place to work by working directly with employees, not through unions. In this regard, Wizards is not neutral on the question of unionization." However, the gaming company also stated that it will “respect the results of the election no matter what our employees choose.”

The unionization was in response to growing demands on staff labor, according to interviews Rascal News conducted with staff organizers. But organizers appear committed and eager to go through the unionization process.

 For a deep dive into the conditions inside WOTC around this, check out Rascal’s interview with two of the MTG and D&D organizers. TTRPG Insider will also be following the matter fairly closely in coming weeks and months.

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Critical Role Partners With Japanese Vtuber Agency as part of Latest Miniseries

The Japan-based COVER Corporation announced a collaboration between Critical Role and the Japanese “virtual tuber,” aka vtuber agency, hololive. The pair will host a miniseries in November 2026 featuring several of the agency’s performers, including Nerissa Ravencroft, Mori Calliope, Shiori Novella, and Gigi Murin, alongside Matthew Mercer as DM and Marisha Ray as a player. It will use the Daggerheart system and will be set in Exandria, the world that the last three main campaigns of Critical Role were set in.

VTubers have been an increasingly prominent part of streaming culture, with names like Ironmouse and Zentreya developing notable fanbases among Western audiences. It’s become a common way for people interested in streaming to create avatars and perform online.

What is notable is the extent of crossover interest between VTuber culture and TTRPG/Actual Play culture. Ironmouse, for example, has previously been in one-shots alongside Mercer. Popular APs like World of IO and Narrative Declaration also feature prominent VTubers like Zoran the Wizard and Juniper Actias. So there is some sense in why the two markets are crossing over.

The series will premiere mid-November.

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Magpie Games to Explore Spirit World in Avatar Legends

The Spirit World is central to the upcoming expansion from Magpie Games’ Avatar Legends.

The company announced that it is crowdfunding Spirit World starting in October 2026. The book offers tools for exploring the nature of spirits in Avatar: The Last Airbender, a common theme. The Spirit World is an alternate plane of existence within the setting and has played a key part in the world’s stories

“From the first meeting we had with Paramount about bringing the Avatarverse to roleplaying games, we knew we wanted to give players and GMs the tools to include spirits and the Spirit World,” says Mark Diaz Truman, CEO of Magpie Games in a press statement. “Over the past five years, we’ve worked closely with Avatar Studios to ensure that Spirit World is worth the wait, and we can’t wait to show fans all of the amazing lore and mechanics we’ve packed into this book!”

It will offer new playbooks for players, tools for exploring this part of the setting and more.

Avatar Legends is an attempt to capture the world of The Last Airbender in TTRPG format, and successfully raised $2.1 million. It continues to expand the lore of the world, a topic that may attract growing interest in light of Avatar: Seven Havens, the latest expansion for the series alongside The Legend of Aang, a film expansion set in the Aang era.

Hasbro to Add ANOTHER Gaming Studio

Hasbro opened Wizards of the Coast Studios last week, its latest initiative to develop D&D games. The studio will be based out of WOTC’s new Montreal offices in Canada and help to expand its focus. The 35,518-square-foot studio is planned to grow to approximately 200 employees by 2028.

“Montréal is where my own career in games began, so opening the doors of this studio means a great deal to me personally, and it means even more for what it represents for the future,” said Dan Ayoub, Senior Vice President, Head of Dungeons & Dragons and Head of Wizards of the Coast Canada, Hasbro. “This studio will grow to be the largest concentration of video game talent at Hasbro, built on one of the world's deepest game development ecosystems. We're here to create the next generation of digital game titles, and to do it with the incredible talent this city has to offer.”

Video games have been a prominent and regular part of the D&D strategy and its brand. It’s attempted to launch multiple new video game projects. Unfortunately, only a few have come to fruition, including the action-adventure-focused Warlock and an upcoming tavern simulator. At least two studios and D&D video game projects have been canceled in the last two years.

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