For many years, articy:draft 3 has been an important part of the narrative design workflows of studios around the world. It helped teams move from scattered documents toward structured narrative production, making it easier to design branching stories, manage dialogue, and keep complex narrative systems organized.

Today, as both the industry and our technology have evolved, we are announcing an important step forward:
articy:draft 3 is being removed from sale.

This decision allows us to focus fully on the continued development and improvement of articy:draft X, the current generation of articy:draft.

Why We’re Retiring articy:draft 3

When articy:draft 3 was first released, narrative pipelines in game development looked a little different from today.

Since then, production realities have changed:

  • Narrative content has become more systemic and reactive
  • Games now require stronger collaboration across departments
  • Teams need structured narrative data that integrates directly with their pipelines
  • Nearly all projects involve extensive localization, VO pipelines, and live updates
  • Studios want more control and flexibility for their workflows

 
Over time, we built articy:draft X to better address these challenges and support the growing complexity of modern narrative production.

Continuing to sell two different product generations divides development effort and makes it harder for us to deliver the improvements teams need today.

By retiring articy:draft 3 from sale, we can concentrate our efforts on advancing the platform that supports the future of narrative design.

What This Means for Existing Users

If you are currently using articy:draft 3, nothing will change for you.

  • Your existing licenses will continue to work
  • You can keep using the software as usual
  • Your projects and workflows remain fully supported by the version you own
  • Critical technical issues will continue to be resolved should they arise.

 
This announcement only affects new purchases.

Our goal is to ensure current users have the time and clarity they need to plan their next steps comfortably.

Why articy:draft X Became the New Standard

Since its launch in November 2023, articy:draft X has grown into the platform most teams now rely on for narrative production.

It introduces capabilities designed specifically for modern game development pipelines including:

  • MDK enhancements and migration to .NET8
  • API update
  • DevKit Tools plugin
  • Localization and Voice Over support
  • Enhanced integrations with game engines
  • Enhanced scripting

 
These improvements make it easier for teams to treat narrative not just as text, but as structured production data that can evolve alongside the rest of the game.

Planning Your Next Step

For teams still using articy:draft 3, this moment can also be a good opportunity to explore how your narrative pipeline might benefit from newer workflows.

Moving to articy:draft X opens the door to:

  • a shared narrative system for the whole team, beyond writers and narrative designers
  • better scalability for large projects
  • smoother collaboration between departments
  • a system that better adapts to your teams’ workflows supporting iteration, collaboration and scale

 
Our team is happy to help answer questions and guide studios through the options available.

Thank You to the articy:draft 3 Community

articy:draft 3 played a major role in shaping how many studios approach narrative design today. The feedback, creativity, and projects created with it have helped define the direction of articy:draft as a whole.

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who built stories, worlds, and player experiences with it.

As narrative production continues to evolve, we’re excited to keep building tools that help teams create ambitious interactive stories—while making the process more structured, scalable, and resilient.

If you have questions about this change or about transitioning to articy:draft X, feel free to reach out to our team .
We’re here to help.

Haven’t tried articy:draft X yet? Get the free version right now and start 💯 worries free.
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