When it comes to live roleplaying shows, few names are more recognized around the internet thanCritical Role. This gathering of veteran voice actors consists of a rotating cast of names like Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Sam Riegel, and typical Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer, and has been regularly streaming their adventures since June 14, 2025. With a TV show by Metapigeon,The Legend of Vox Machina, an associated tabletop publisher, Darrington Press, and plenty of multimedia crossovers, including a tie-in withDungeons & Dragonsitself,Critical Rolehas had a stellar past ten years.
As its tenth anniversary approaches,Critical Rolehas even more in store for its fans and players, and a preview of that was recently dropped by a series regular. In an interview with Rolling Stone,Critical RoleCEO, participant, and voice actor Travis Willingham revealed that there has been some kind of video game-relatedCritical Roleproject brewing behind the scenes. Whether it’s the reveal ofanotherCritical Rolemultimedia branchlike Metapigeon and Darrington Press or the announcement of an inbound game isn’t clear yet, but it’s happening in the next few months, and there couldn’t be a better time for it.
Critical Role Is Stepping Into An RPG Resurgence
Besides the obvious accolade ofCritical Rolegaining an interactive game, there are incentives forCritical Roleapproaching this hobby right now. As Travis Willingham noted, the game industry is in a period of upheaval, but that could also mean that the usual hierarchy of game popularity is upset. Just glancing at theDecember 2024 Game Awards nomineesconfirms that, with budget family platformers likeAstro Botand indie titles likeBalatrostanding alongside typical award contenders likeFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. This isn’t even new, as the winner of 2023’s Game of the Year award wasBaldur’s Gate 3, a CRPG licensed to an indie studio.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Has Paved The Way For More Games Like It
While plenty has been said aboutBaldur’s Gate 3’s quality, voice cast, lengthy Early Access period, and continuous post-launch updates, the fact remains that a fairly traditional CRPG managed to win Game of the Year over AAA mega-hits likeThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomandMarvel’s Spider-Man 2. “Computer Role-Playing Games” have long enjoyed a fairly large niche audience, but even the highlight titles likethe first twoBaldur’s Gate’s andFallout’sonly brushed against the mainstream.Baldur’s Gate 3finally bridging that gap so long after its genre was considered relevant is huge, and means good things for like-minded games.
A Critical Role RPG Like Baldur’s Gate 3 Could Be Huge
Even though the nature ofCritical Role’s first digital gaming project is still unknown, chances are high that it’s an RPG. SinceBaldur’s Gate 3set such a good example of what a roleplay-heavy RPG should be like, andseveral coreCritical Rolemembershave at least touched the game, taking after it would be a logical choice for an interactiveCritical Roleadaptation. It remains to be seen whether this means that Travis Willingham’s mention of the upcoming project having taken several years to come together is foreshadowing an Early Access launch similar toBaldur’s Gate 3, but that would be another sensible choice.
Why Critical Role Should Invest In A CRPG
Setting aside speculation about theCritical Rolegame itself, opting for a CRPG format would be rewarded right now, despite how easy it is for such games to alienate wider audiences with their pulled-back cameras and complex mechanics. The 1-2 punch ofDisco ElysiumandBaldur’s Gate 3have given the CRPG genre more popularity than they’ve ever had, allowing for more of them to exist. ACritical Rolevideo game that successfully follows the path thatBaldur’s Gate 3has blazed could bring a whole new kind of success to the aging role-playing show.
