Critical Role CEO Travis Willingham Calls Video Game an ‘Active Pursuit’

For the past decade, the Critical Role storytelling empire has expanded far beyond the confines of the actual play table. The show’s world of Exandria continues to evolve in novels, comics, podcasts, animated series, and so much more. But there’s one untapped medium – video games.

Fortunately, CEO Travis Willingham confirms that the dream of a Critical Role video game is as potent for the show’s creative team as it is for the Critter fanbase. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, the Critical Role cast reflects on the show’s legacy and sets their collective sights on the future, teasing a veritable dragon’s hoard of upcoming riches for fans.

Fielding a question about a potential video game adaptation, a dream that Game Master Matthew Mercer has shared in the past, Willingham divulges: “I would say it’s an active pursuit on our end. The last few years we have been having necessary conversations to figure out how to do that smartly.” Though the Critical Role CEO goes on to contextualize the immense time and effort that goes into coordinating a collaborative project like a video game, he teases potential announcements regarding this pursuit in late 2024/early 2025.

While the Venn Diagram of tabletop and video game interests is already nearly a circle, Critical Role maintains a particularly strong foothold in both hobbies. Not only is the Critical Role‘s cast bursting with the leading voice talent in the video game industry, but a profound passion for gaming permeates the show’s brand. From elaborate cast-wide Halloween costumes themed around video game characters to one-shots set in the worlds of Zelda, Persona, Elder Scrolls, and Borderlands, Critical Role serves as a hub for tabletop and video game hobbyists alike. Unsurprisingly, the notion of a Critical Role video game has always struck fans as a home run, making Willingham’s update that the team already has active irons in the fire particularly thrilling.

Even a whiff of Critical Role video game content is enough to get Critters chomping at the bit, but the keys to an electronic Exandria are far from the only alluring nuggets the cast of nerdy ass voice actors hints at during their Rolling Stone retrospective. Sam Riegel speaks broadly about a collection of television and film projects that Critical Role is pursuing, including a live-action series and another animated project outside the world of Exandria. “The television and film development game is hard,” Riegel elaborates on the active pitching process, “but there’s eight of us and we have lots of ideas. Odds are in our favor. If we have a 1 percent success rate, we have way more than a hundred ideas.”

Whether it’s a long-anticipated video game project or a completely unexpected live-action series, one thing’s for sure: Critical Role is nowhere near done leveling up its sprawling storytelling empire.