Before too long, D&D books are going to be more expensive.
Earlier this week, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast announced that it will be increasing the price of its upcoming releases. That hike starts with Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, due to arrive this August 15, and you'll now have to pay $59.95 (the cost used to be $49.95). According to Wizards, this is thanks to increased shipping and goods costs for Dungeons and Dragons books.
That change is already reflected on Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants' Amazon pre-order page. While I've not been able to confirm what the updated UK cost will be, the same book is £48.30 on Amazon UK rather than the usual £41.99.
Digital pricing won't be affected, though - in other words, you shouldn't have to pay more if you're buying the books on D&D Beyond or through platforms like DrivethruRPG. Backlist books (e.g. products that have already been released) won't be rising in cost either.
Unfortunately, bundles with a hardcover copy and a digital version aren't so lucky. These combo-packs are also rising in price to $69.95 (or £69.99 in the UK). However, this won't happen until after Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is out - you can still pre-order it for the current price of $59.95 / £59.99 via the official D&D store.
On the D&D Beyond post explaining this change, Wizards of the Coast explained that "since the release of the 2014 D&D core rulebooks, we’ve kept book prices stable. Unfortunately, with the cost of goods and shipping continually increasing, we’ve finally had to make the decision to increase the price of our new release print books.
"We're committed to creating high-quality products that deliver great value to our players and must increase our prices to accomplish that… Digital pricing is unaffected by this MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) increase, as digital products don’t need to be printed or shipped. The increase also doesn’t impact backlist titles. While we can’t promise that there will never be a change to the prices of digital products and backlist titles, we have no plans to increase either," it concluded.
For suggestions of what to play next, check out the best tabletop RPGs or the best board games. You can also get some present ideas from our guide to D&D gifts.
