Wizards of the Coast has seemingly canceled AAA studio Skeleton Key's in-development project, although said project had yet to be announced to the public.
This news comes via audio director Nassim Ait-Kaci on LinkedIn (spotted by ResetEra user Cyberia), who revealed the unannounced game's "unfortunate cancellation" in a post on the social media platform earlier this week.
Ait-Kaci also says he's "seeking a new role" following the cancellation, which may or may not mean that Skeleton Key has been hit by layoffs. Given that no announcement has been made by either Skeleton Key or Wizards of the Coast, it's hard to say.
Skeleton Key was announced back in 2022. The studio was founded by former Dragon Age producer Christian Dailey, who said at the time that the franchise was in "great hands" (although I'm sure that EA would probably disagree in hindsight).
The studio's first game was never officially announced, although a quick look back at job listings on X (from 2023, admittedly) shows the studio was looking for folks to work on combat, environment design, and audio. That, however, does not tell us much in the grand scheme of things.
Whatever Skeleton Key was working on, it isn't the only studio to have its project canceled in recent months. Others include Splash Damage's Transformers: Reactivate, 11 bit's console-focused Project 8, and an unannounced project by The Sexy Brutale developer Tequila Works.
The problem is also affecting other studios run by industry veterans, like Just Cause creator Christofer Sundberg's Liquid Swords, along with studios headed by BioWare veterans Mac Walters and Casey Hudson.
Despite Skeleton Key's project cancellation, Wizards of the Coast's parent company Hasbro isn't pausing its video game efforts.
Recently, as well as unveiling a new "Playing to Win" strategy aimed at attracting more players, Hasbro revealed that Space Marine 2 developer Saber is working on a new AAA-level game based on a "tentpole" company IP.
As a reminder, IPs that Hasbro controls include not only Dungeons & Dragons, but also Transformers, Power Rangers, and GI Joe, among many others. We'll have to wait and see what comes of that particular partnership.
