Critical Role paid to play D&D for C4? We have the answer

Ever since Critical Role made the announcement that they would be continuing to play Dungeons and Dragons for their fourth campaign, people have had questions.

One of those big questions was did Wizards of the Coast, the company behind D&D, pay Critical Role to play their updated D&D 2024 ruleset.

In a recent interview on the Dungeon Craft YouTube channel, Professor DM asked Matthew Mercer and Travis Willingham point blank.

Did Wizards of the Coast pay Critical Role to play D&D 2024 for campaign 4?

Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford join Critical Role's Darrington Press — Credit: Michael Schmidt

D&D veterans join Critical Role’s Darrington Press

The answer will surprise some; they said no.

“Did you receive any payment from Wizards of the Coast for choosing D&D?” the host asked.

“Absolutely not. We did not receive any payment to play D&D. We’ve never received any payment to play D&D from Wizards for our show,” Mercer responded.

He did go on to explain ways that CR or himself did work with WOTC, stating, “We’ve done a couple of books with them, which has been a collaboration there. I’ve done some consulting on a number of their books, and I’ve done a couple streams for them. I think those are the only instances in which Wizards has paid us for anything.”

Willingham went on to echo Mercer’s sentiments. Stating that they’ve never received money to play any system outside of specific one-shots.

So now we know. Critical Role did not receive direct payment from Wizards of the Coast to play D&D 2024 in the upcoming Campaign 4 set to launch on October 2nd.

The game will be a “west-marches style” campaign with a brand new world titled Aramán, with a cast of 13 characters played by new and returning guests to the show.