Dungeons & Dragons‘ Chris Perkins Retires from Wizards of the Coast

After 28 years, longtime Dungeons & Dragons designer Chris Perkins revealed he’s exited the institution and retired from Wizards of the Coast.

Perkins said connected Friday helium was leaving with a “perfect fairytale ending…I can’t hold to bask D&D purely arsenic a instrumentality again, knowing the crippled is successful bully hands.” His status comes successful the aftermath of the TTRPG’s 50th day and the caller motorboat of its revised rulebooks, which helium said were “doing gangbusters.” Prior to this, helium stepped down arsenic D&D’s product pb aft the motorboat of the Dungeon Master’s Guide successful October 2024. At the time, a Wizards typical told Polygon that Perkins “wasn’t going anywhere,” and that helium was taking connected a caller relation astatine the company.

Today I discontinue from Wizards aft 28 years. With D&D’s 50th day wrapping up and the revised rulebooks doing gangbusters, this is the cleanable fairytale ending for me. I can’t hold to bask D&D purely arsenic a instrumentality again, knowing the game’s successful bully hands. See you successful the Feywild! pic.twitter.com/YWV4hlEPg6

— Christopher Perkins (@ChrisPerkinsDnD) April 4, 2025

Chris Perkins entered the tabletop crippled manufacture successful 1988 nether the pen sanction “Christopher Zarathurstra,” which helium utilized to write Dungeon Magazine #11’s “Wards of Witching Ways” adventure. He officially joined Wizards successful 1997 arsenic an exertion for Dungeon, and aboriginal editor-in-chief of Wizards periodicals. Over the years, he’s go a much salient fig for Dungeons & Dragons and contributed to its 4th and 5th editions and the celebrated Curse of Strahd module. Perkins besides helped popularize the Actual Play genre through D&D games astatine fashionable enthusiast events similar PAX, past moving the Twitch amusement Dice, Camera, Action and impermanent starring on Critical Role.

After Perkins revealed his retirement, the Dungeons & Dragons team thanked him for “the decades of enactment helium has poured into Wizards of the Coast, arsenic D&D would not beryllium what it is contiguous without his galore contributions. While we are incredibly bittersweet to spot him go, we invited him astatine our crippled immoderate day. While astatine D&D, Chris mentored the adjacent procreation of leaders who are stepping up arsenic helium moves connected to bask his retirement.”

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.