Previously canceled by Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast has found new life at a new studio led by a former executive.
Today, Level Headed Games founder Leah Heuer—former General Manager and Vice President of Creative at Wizards of the Coast—announced that her studio has secured ownership of a yet-to-be-announced “co-op arena party game.” Hoyer led the game's development while he was at Wizards, but left the company (according to her LinkedIn page) in February 2023, after Bloomberg News reports this. the company canceled five games in development.
That same month, Hoyer founded Level Headed Games, “participating” in a16z speedrun. The game does not appear to be based on an existing property. The company described the game as an “accessible gaming experience” aimed at “Gen Z and cross-generational” players, and said the game was previously in development at Wizards' “new IP studio.”
Hoyer said early testing showed the game had “excellent prospects” and the team was making “rapid progress” on the new setting.
“We are grateful to Wizards of the Coast for allowing us to continue the project,” she concluded. “We're not building our game the way we originally envisioned, but change is the only constant in the industry these days. We regrouped, made important changes to reflect the realities of our new team size, and got back to work building something we're truly proud of.”
