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What's next for the TTRPG actual play medium?

It's a question that we've been asking all the most relevant people - from the Dungeon Dudes to Anjali Bhimani and beyond. With shows like Critical Role and Dimension 20 changing the landscape of fantasy media, we want to know how the creators thereof see its future. So when we got the chance to speak with two of the stars of D20's latest season, Gladlands, we had to ask them the same question.

The fortune reading we got, though, wasn't without it's downsides.

First, here's some context - the players in question were Jacob Wysocki and Oscar Montoya, two Dimension 20 cast members who Dropout viewers will know as KoKoMO and Poppy Persona, respectively, from season 27 - Gladlands. When asked about the future of actual play, Wysocki was the first to respond.

"Oh goodness," began the comedian, "When I hear questions like that, I get scared. Because, unfortunately, next steps tend to lean into more money, more corporatization. Then IShowSpeed is playing Dimension 20 with Kai Cenat - "

"DM'd by Mr. Beast," interjected Montoya. And in case you're as uncool as I am, reader - these are all YouTube celebrities that Montoya and Wysocki are referencing.

"Yeah," laughed Wysocki, "Which you know, it's cool for something to have that wide of an appeal, but it's also scary when it's big enough that Tostino's has to be represented, and we can't say X, Y, or Z because the sponsor of Tostino's would be upset. All of that is kind of bad and scary, when I think about it getting really big and really commercial." 

"I think immediate things you're going to start seeing more," Wysocki continued, "Are people playing in the live stream space. There's a lot of money going into that; there's a lot of people. I think [there's a future in[ capitalizing off IRL streaming and live streaming. It's like, 'Why not play a game live for people?'"

"The Dimension 20 people have done a really good job of producing really interesting live shows with set decoration and props, these really thought-out things. So if you can have a well-produced livestream that has the elements that you would go see  at Madison Square Garden or in Seattle or wherever [...]  I could imagine that being a very easy coming together of mediums where we're going to have really talented people play this thing in a very well produced space, but everybody can watch it in real time at home."

The final episode of Dimension 20 season 27, Gladlands, airs February 10 on Dropout.

Popverse's Dimension 20 watch order.