D&D’s Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is delayed

26.05.2022

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, the highly anticipated anthology of adventures for Dungeons & Dragons, has been delayed for a month, according to a tweet by the publisher. In a statement provided to Polygon, Wizards of the Coast cites “domestic production issues” that cropped up late in the process as the reason for the delay. The book will now be available in stores and online beginning July 19.

Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel is the first anthology of D&D adventures to be written entirely by Black and brown authors. It contains 13 new stand-alone adventures for characters from level one through 14. Several of those adventures have been detailed for the press, including one-shots inspired by Asian culture and Black culture, as well as Caribbean and Mexican cultures.

A delay in Wizards’ release schedule for D&D print materials is rare, but this is actually the second such delay in less than six months. Wizards previously told the press that it originally wanted the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Expansion Gift Set to be ready for the 2021 holiday season. However, it had to push back the release — which included the first printing of Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse — to January 2022, due in part to ongoing issues with global shipping logistics.

Unlike the vast majority of previous 5th-edition books, the Rules Expansion Gift Set was printed in China which, Wizards said at the time, contributed to its delay. Polygon asked whether international logistics also played a role in the delay of Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel.

“Production and logistics in the U.S. and abroad are continuing to see complications and difficulties,” a Wizards representative told us. “We produce D&D products in a variety of locations to mitigate these reliability risks as well as get the game to our players faster, and will continue to do so moving forward.

“Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel encountered domestic production issues that arose very late in the process,” they added, “which is why the release date had to be revised.”

The delay comes at an inconvenient time for Wizards’ parent company Hasbro, which is currently engaged in a proxy fight over who will sit on its board of directors. The outcome could impact the future of D&D as well as the Magic: The Gathering brand. A final vote is scheduled for June 8.

The anthology wasn’t the only product delayed. The release of Campaign Case: Terrain was also moved back one month to August 16.