D&D’s upcoming video game promises a focused experience, avoiding lengthy open-world gameplay.

Warlock, the upcoming open-world Dungeons & Dragons game from Invoke Studios, is shaping up to be more concise than some might anticipate. This could be a welcome change for gamers who are tired of the excessive bloat often found in open-world titles.

At Gamescom 2026, I had the chance to check out an extended gameplay demo of Warlock behind closed doors. I watched as the main character, Kaatri, navigated a quaint village named Crickshank and interacted with a beggar. This encounter led her to discover a blood trail that led into a doorway, unveiling a vast underground tunnel system.

This type of gameplay, where each player’s journey can differ significantly due to the abundance of optional content, typically suggests a sprawling RPG that could easily exceed 100 hours. However, studio head Dominic Guay clarified that Warlock isn’t designed to be that extensive.

“It will definitely be longer than a more linear game, but it won’t be as massive as some open worlds that stretch into hundreds of hours,” he explained. “Our goal is to create a denser open world where players are rewarded more quickly for their exploration. We wanted to avoid the long distances that can make travel feel tedious in other games.”

Invoke’s philosophy echoes what Playground Games mentioned regarding the length of their new Fable title. Guay provided further insight, stating, “It will still take tens of hours to complete, so there’s plenty of gameplay. The difficulty in estimating the length comes down to how much you choose to explore versus how quickly you want to progress through the story. Exploring will help you grow stronger, which can aid in the main quest. If you rush through the story, you might find yourself facing tougher enemies without the necessary power.”

In this sense, it aligns with many RPGs, but Guay also confirmed that enemies won’t scale with your character’s level. “Enemies won’t magically get stronger as you do,” he noted. “If an area has weak enemies, they will remain weak, even if you become powerful.”

Considering Warlock is set in the D&D universe, where players can engage in a wide range of activities, the game’s shorter length might come as a surprise. Baldur’s Gate 3 is often hailed as the pinnacle of D&D gaming, with completionist runs clocking in at over 180 hours. Traditional D&D campaigns can span from weeks to years, with each session lasting several hours. So, while Warlock is more streamlined, it’s refreshing in a gaming landscape where titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 are promising 80-plus hour narratives.