Wizards of the Coast Insider Exposes Woke Chaos and the Mystery Behind a Canceled "Skyrim Killer"
I recently had the opportunity to speak with an insider (who I'd spoken with previously, and this was the same insider from Wizards of the Coast (WotC) that gave me the insight to break the Corinne Busche working at Skeleton Key story) on Discord via a video call. Our conversation lasted about an hour, and the wild info they gave me confirmed many of the worst suspicions about the company’s internal culture, its overwhelming embrace of DEI-wokeness, and the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding a long-rumored Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) project that was originally supposed to potentially even rival Skyrim.
Corinne Busche NOT Working on Baldur's Gate 4
Let's get this out of the way first: Despite the heavy rumors circulating online, Corinne Busche is not working on Baldur’s Gate 4. My insider confirmed directly—showing me an internal WotC email via screenshare (which I was also asked not to share publicly)—that Corinne Busche is actually instead working on a previously canceled D&D project that is not Baldur’s Gate 4. The email they showed me was sent out to the entire company, and it referenced the project under its codename 'Dante'. That game had once been housed under Hidden Path Entertainment. Despite millions of dollars being poured into the failure, the game never progressed beyond early development ...and was ultimately abandoned.
Now, WotC is attempting to revive it with Corinne Busche at the helm, raising some serious questions about whether Dante is being salvaged out of necessity rather than it's once true potential. If Skeleton Key doesn’t eventually try to rework the Dante project into Baldur’s Gate 4, then Busche will officially NOT be leading the next Baldur’s Gate installment.
Instead, he would be attempting to resurrect a failed game. This is a lot of speculation from my insider, with many moving parts, so as always, things can change. Take every leak with a hefty dose of scrutiny and grain of salt. I'm just passing along the message from what I've heard to help keep you up to date with the latest insights directly from the source.
My source continued, stating that Dante was once touted as the Skyrim Killer, with grandiose AAA ambitions trying to be the next big thing for the sputtering Dungeons & Dragons franchise... but its troubled development history tells me otherwise.
The project was an absolute disaster. According to my source, Dante was in development hell from the very start, beginning before Exodus began work in 2019. Despite all the years of work and financing, it never got past the vertical slice phase—the stage where a team produces a working demo to showcase key mechanics, like combat, side quests, and world interactions, in hopes of securing full project approvals. WotC poured millions upon millions of dollars into this game... but it never gained traction, ultimately leading to its eventual cancellation.
But here's where it all gets pretty interesting. The game was not only plagued by mismanagement and wasted resources—but it was also steeped in woke ideology. Not a big shock to anyone paying attention to WotC these days but still, it explains a lot. The insider revealed to me that the game’s cast was designed to be as diverse as possible, ensuring representation at the expense of quality worldbuilding. From what I have researched, this all lines up, and adding Corinne Busche to that project, hot off the heels of the Dragon Age: The Veilguard massive failure... It's gotta make you wonder... who's making these critical financial business decisions?
The Project’s Future: Rebranded as Baldur’s Gate 4?
After Hidden Path’s involvement ended, the project was then transferred to Skeleton Key to apparently be resurrected years later. Skeleton Key, which I've spoken about previously, is a relatively newer studio under the WotC umbrella. The insider suggested that if the game continues under their leadership, it will remain just as woke as before... If not even worse.
Hidden Path Entertainment (above), was the studio originally tasked with Dante, but it is now a mere shadow of what it once was. Thier website hasn't been updated in years, many of the people in the pictures shown on it no longer work there, yet the company is still in business, operating without so much as putting a game out or providing information on what these employees do everyday that they go in to work. It's a very strange situation over there.
The insider also noted that WotC funneled huge amounts of money into that very studio, and nothing ever came out of it. The fact that Hidden Path hasn’t updated their website in years tells me that things have been crumbling behind the scenes for quite some time.
Even more intriguing is the possibility that I alluded to earlier here, where WotC would potentially try and salvage their investment by rebranding the game as Baldur’s Gate 4. While none of this is confirmed yet, the insider mentioned that it was a real possibility within the company, but as of this moment right now, it is NOT BG4, but that can change. Given the recent success of Baldur’s Gate 3, it wouldn’t be surprising if WotC tried to slap the franchise’s name on a struggling project in an attempt to generate interest... But time is going to have to tell on that one.
Woke Culture at WotC: No Dissent Allowed
If you ever had any doubts whatsoever about just how far left-leaning WotC has become, my insider described the environment where the company is not only just politically biased, but outright hostile toward anyone who doesn’t toe the line. Their internal messaging app is filled with anti-Trump rhetoric, and the atmosphere is so stifling that even the slightest deviation from agreement with the woke groupthink... results in immediate dogpiling and outcasting.
The insider told me a story about an incident where one anonymous person simply asked a question related to Trump, and the entire team on the messaging app immediately jumped on them. It wasn’t even a pro-Trump question—it was just an inquiry. This is the kind of company culture we’re dealing with at WotC: a place where independent thought is dangerous and ideological purity is mandatory... Actually, now that I think about it, this isn't limited to just WotC. This is a major concern throughout the entire video game industry on the whole.
Conclusion
Wizards of the Coast continues to be a case study in corporate self-destruction. From their aggressively woke internal culture to their reckless mismanagement of resources, it’s no surprise that projects like Dante fail so spectacularly. The fact that they decided to bring in Corinne Busche to head a project over at Skeleton Key isn't surprising at all, considering all the former BioWare employees that fill that studio and the rampant nepotism filling the hallways. The idea that they could try to rebrand the failed game with Busche as Baldur’s Gate 4 should raise alarm bells for anyone who values the integrity of the franchise.
Meanwhile, Hidden Path Entertainment appears to be yet another casualty of WotC’s missteps, left adrift after years of wasted time and money. If this insider’s info is anything to go by, we’re only scratching the surface of the dysfunction happening behind the scenes at WotC.
~Smash
