Warlock Shows Nearly 10 Minutes of Open-World D&D Gameplay Ahead of 2027

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons received an extended gameplay showcase during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 on August 25, offering a closer look at the open-world Dungeons & Dragons adventure planned for 2027. The presentation runs for nearly 10 minutes, giving the upcoming game far more time in the spotlight than its earlier reveal. Warlock is being positioned as a single-player, third-person action RPG for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Wizards of the Coast first announced Warlock in late 2025 as an open-world project set within the D&D universe. Developer Invoke is building the adventure around Kaatri, an experienced swordswoman and weapons master whose pact with Tasha sits at the center of the story. Kaatri is searching for someone she has lost, while Tasha is familiar to Forgotten Realms fans as an archmage and demonologist. The reveal also describes her as an ancient and powerful witch who appears to have plans of her own.

Although the footage is a demonstration rather than hands-on play, it shows how Kaatri’s magic is intended to work beyond direct damage. Her pact adds tools for combat, traversal, and solving problems in the environment without making her sword obsolete.

Kaatri is the only playable character, and Warlock will not use the dice rolls, character creation, or party system associated with tabletop Dungeons & Dragons or Baldur’s Gate 3. Her abilities instead run on cooldowns and other action-game resources rather than traditional spell slots.

Warlock heads into Ravenloft’s Darkon

Rather than using the Faerûn setting of Baldur’s Gate 3, Warlock will take place in the gothic Domain of Dread and send players toward the realm of Darkon. Darkon is the largest domain in Ravenloft, and it exists on a separate plane from Faerûn. The domain is ruled by the lich Azalin Rex, whose disappearance has left it unstable and slowly collapsing into the mists.

Kaatri’s journey will take her through settlements, dungeons, and hidden areas as she searches for her lost loved one. Obstacles can be approached with physical force, magic, or combinations of both, giving players room to decide how they handle the world around them.

Invoke Studios creative vice president Jeffrey Hattem described the team’s work as “very different” from Larian’s RPG. He still had warm words for Baldur’s Gate 3, saying, “It’s a great game. I enjoyed it as well when I played it.”

Warlock is also being presented as a non-turn-based D&D experience, giving its combat and moment-to-moment play a different rhythm from Baldur’s Gate 3‘s turn-based battles. Moving into Ravenloft gives the project a darker corner of the D&D universe to call its own.

Kaatri’s pact shapes Warlock’s movement

A resource called Raw Magic is scattered throughout Darkon. Kaatri can absorb it to unlock and improve her spells, with each ability serving more than one purpose. The same magic used in a fight can also open routes, solve puzzles, or interact with the environment.

When brambles block Kaatri’s path, she can use Tasha’s Leash to pull a nearby lamp into position and set them alight. If the flames become a problem, the same spell can grab a bucket of water and put them out. Ordinary objects become part of the puzzle rather than simple scenery.

Kaatri can also use shadow-step to move toward enemies, retreat from danger, or pass through obstacles. Heavy objects can be moved from a distance, and Black Tentacles can form a bridge when a gap is too wide to cross normally. She can transform into a raven to pass through narrow openings and reach lower sections of the map, while spells such as Levitate and Gust of Wind offer further ways to navigate the environment.

Some areas of Darkon will remain inaccessible until Kaatri gains the right power. Spell-gated locations, ritual interactions, and environmental puzzles tie progression to her growing supernatural toolkit rather than simple movement through an open map.

Settlements give Kaatri places to upgrade weapons, speak with NPCs, and accept quests. The world map is intentionally limited in scope to encourage players to discover paths and secrets naturally instead of simply crossing a vast empty space.

Kaatri mixes swordplay with spells

Combat gives those abilities a direct physical counterpart. Kaatri can combine sword attacks with teleportation, time manipulation, and telekinesis in real time instead of treating magic and melee as separate parts of her arsenal. In one sequence, she suspends an enemy in the air, defeats another opponent, then pulls a loose sword toward herself and throws it at the levitating target.

Another fight puts her against a much larger brute. Tendrils rise from the ground and pin the creature in place, giving Kaatri enough time to close in and attack with her blade. The footage shows how she can control one enemy, strike another, or use magic and the environment to create an opening.

One of the clearest examples of that environmental approach begins with a blood ritual. Kaatri summons a small table, performs the ritual, and changes the weather so that rain begins to fall. The rain leaves enemies more conductive, allowing her to follow up with lightning and turn the weather into part of the attack.

Together, those systems give Warlock a distinctly action-focused identity, with the protagonist’s abilities driving the pace and helping her move through the world in a Dragon’s Dogma-style adventure. The combination of spells, weapons, positioning, and environmental effects gives Kaatri more options than a basic hack-and-slash approach.

A town opening leaves Warlock’s freedom unclear

The footage begins with Kaatri entering a town where locals react to her presence, giving the setting a more lived-in feel before the trailer moves into a chain of carefully arranged events. It remains unclear how much freedom players will have to roam away from those story moments. The smooth transitions may reflect the needs of a fast gameplay presentation rather than the final balance between guided scenes and freeform discovery.

Warlock’s remaining launch details

The planned release includes a story-driven solo campaign, but Invoke has not confirmed its length or the amount of side content. The developer also has not explained the exact costs attached to Kaatri’s magic, how those costs will affect combat and story progression, whether the game will receive post-launch content, or how much it will cost.

Warlock follows the success of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3, although Larian has since moved on from the D&D license to develop its next Divinity project. Invoke’s game offers a distinctly more action-focused direction for the franchise.

Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons is scheduled to arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store in 2027. No specific release day or month, and no pricing information, has been announced. Its Steam page is already live with more information about the project.

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