Wizards of the Coast Hired Longtime Dungeons and Dragons writer James Hajek as senior game designer, bringing one of 5th Edition's most prolific writers on full staff as the D&D team continues to evolve.
Hajek announced the news on the December 31st episode of the Eldritch Lorecast podcast, where they noted that the role marks a transition from freelance and outside work to leading future D&D books from within Wizards of the Coast.
The move follows a period of major changes within D&D's internal design team. In mid-2025, experienced designers Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford left Wizards will join Critical Role's publishing division, Darrington Press. Since then, Wizards has begun hiring designers from the height of 5th Edition's popularity into senior creative positions, with Hajek being the latest personnel change.
Hack is best known for his work on some of the best 5e hardcover adventure books. They were the lead designers Call of the Voidfirst official D&D campaign set in Exandria Critical Role, and also co-authored Explorer's Guide to Wildmountwhich is also set in the critical role area. Hayek was also co-author Waterdeep: The Dragon Heist And Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. The former is one of 5e's most versatile starter adventures, built around intrigue rather than dungeon crawling. Dragon Heist depicts Waterdeep as a living city of rival factions, which gives Dungeon Masters an unusually flexible urban sandbox to work with four different seasonal versions of the adventure, allowing for some replayability. Descent to Avernus it's one hell of an adventure with memorable demons and devils as the villains, a hunt for a very cool sword wielded by a fallen angel, and “Infernal War Machines” that you control and it gives the feeling Mad Max in Hell.
In addition to his hardcover work, Hajek spent several years as the lead writer for D&D Beyond, where they wrote and edited dozens of guides aimed at teaching players and dungeon masters how to play, run battles, and build campaigns. Together, Hajek's work in space made them one of the most notable designers of this era of the game.
News of Hajek's hiring also comes just weeks after Judge Ramin Armin was named director of design for D&D. They both will work together F. Wesley Schneider as the main game designer, as well as Mackenzie De Armas And Amanda Hemon as senior designers.
Wizards of the Coast has yet to announce which future D&D products Hack will be heading up – or anything else on its 2026 slate. During the podcast announcement, Hajek said they would be working on future books independently, but declined to reveal details until the projects were officially revealed. The addition of another senior designer with extensive hardcover experience suggests that more announcements may be on the horizon. For now, it's clear that Wizards of the Coast is doubling down on the number of designers who helped define 5e's most beloved adventures as the game prepares for its next chapter.
