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Local studio Codename to release Dungeons & Dragons video game

A Victoria game developer is giving his inner child — and he hopes thousands of others — a major treat after announcing Tuesday that his studio has been working on a Dungeons & Dragons video game.

 

A Victoria game developer is giving his inner child — and he hopes thousands of others — a major treat after announcing Tuesday that his studio has been working on a Dungeons & Dragons video game.

Eric Jordan, chief executive of Codename Entertainment and a lifelong Dungeons & Dragons fan, and his team have been working since last fall on Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, an official Dungeons & Dragons game.

It is expected to be released this year.

“This is a huge coup. It’s a dream come true,” said Jordan, who first played the table top board game Dungeons & Dragons in 1981 as a 12-year-old.

“Dungeons & Dragons launched all the role playing games. It was the genesis of it all.”

Dungeons and Dragons was first published in 1974 and is now published by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro.

Rough estimates suggest more than 20 million people have played the game while it has been responsible for more than $1 billion in book and equipment sales.

Codename, with 18 employees, has a licence from Wizards of the Coast to produce the game, which will be set in the Forgotten Realms universe.

“That’s one of the iconic D&D settings, like Middle-Earth is a setting for the Lord of the Rings,” said Jordan.

“Dungeons & Dragons has a very rich world with characters and monsters, and people will get to see and interact with some iconic characters.”

The game takes players on a quest with the goal of recruiting champions, increasing their strength and power, completing storylines and advancing to become more powerful, collect more loot and better gear.

The game, which is initially free to play, allows players to advance just by playing or advancing faster by buying items to help.

It is also an idle-clicker game, which allow players to put as much time and effort as they wish into a game as it does not require active play.

Jordan said the motivating factors in this game are advancing and completing quests and collecting gear and loot along the way.

Jordan expects players will be able to try the game on the Steam platform this year.

It will feature monthly updates with new campaigns.

A 2014 study found that the Victoria gaming industry had grown to 20 studios employing 250 people

It has experienced growing pains, with studio closures and contractions. But new ones have also opened and others have added staff.

Jordan said the net result is the same number of studios employing the same number of people.

‘‘The hope with a brand like Dungeons & Dragons is it can do a fair amount not just for us but the community,” he said.