Wizards of the Coast and Invoke Studios revealed at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 the first gameplay for their new third-person action-adventure game, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons. Warlock is set in a dark fantasy open world inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Magic will be a more focal point for Warlock not only from a story and combat standpoint, but also from a tactical one.
During Gamescom, we got a chance to see an extended look at Warlock and how magic plays a vital role within the game. When players think of magic in-game, it is usually in terms of combat, with maybe some versatility in its uses. We all saw some of this in the Gamescom gameplay reveal of magic being used in the environment to break down barriers or move objects either to reach places unreachable or take out enemies.
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The developers talked about how magic in Warlock is much more than just a few simple versatile spells and that almost every spell in the game can be used both in combat and out of combat. Magic is seen more as a toolkit for players to use and be creative as they maneuver through the world. Spells can be upgraded and eventually specialized so that things could feel more unique and players could have different playstyles.
Exploration is key to Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons as an open-world title.
Magic can be used to reach places that one would think are unattainable, and this was designed because Invoke Studios wanted players to explore and experiment to uncover new paths or discover unexpected solutions. This feel of exploration is part of the larger theme; Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is an open-world game, after all.
The entire map will have fog of war, and that was on purpose, as they wanted to encourage players to explore different parts of the game. Whether it is utilizing creative use of magic or wandering into the “fog,” these are some of the ways Invoke Studios wants players to be immersed in the land of Darkon.
Players are going to want to explore Darkon, as there is Raw Magic hidden all over, and players will need to use this Raw Magic to expand and transform their magic. Whether it is chaining spells together to clear a path, changing the weather, or clamping an enemy down, there will be hundreds of possible ways for players to use their magic and powers.
Wizards of the Coast and Invoke Studios’ Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is all about magic and immersion.
Visually, the game’s approach to both environment and character models is as immersive and detailed as it can be. This is helped by the fact that the actors performed not only the voices of the characters but the motion capture too, as shared in our interview with the voice of Tasha, Maggie Robertson.
While we haven’t seen in-depth looks at the characters just yet, Robertson did give us some insight into her role as the lead character’s patron and the secondary protagonist in the game. “Tasha is someone I’d love to be,” Robertson said. “What I admire about Tasha is she is so smart and quick-witted, and her business acumen is like off the charts. She’s planning 10 steps, 100 steps ahead of wherever you are, and so I love that. That gives her kind of like that badass boss bitch.”
Where our hero, Kaatri, is driven by emotion as she enters a dark pact to gain supernatural hexblade abilities while searching for a lost loved one, Tascha, her patron, is different. Robertson explained, “She knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it.”
This hands-off preview really felt like only a glimpse of Warlock, but getting to see actual gameplay and how some of this magic system works is a good start. With the launch set for next year and large sections of gameplay already out to watch (see below), we can’t wait to see more.
