Transformers Officially Announces The Beginning Of A New Era

Published Aug 30, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more. Transformers is officially kicking off a new era for the franchise with a massive change that has been announced, and fans will have to adapt to this new period. Even though it’s been a few years since the last live-action movie in the series was released, the franchise is still going strong. Just recently, it’s been revealed that an iconic Decepticon was added to Superion in Transformers, 41 years after the Autobot combiner first appeared. This is part of a new comic book entry in the series. However, that’s not all that’s going on. The Transformers Roleplaying Game, released in 2022, just got a massive update from Renegade Con, as highlighted in a post by user HarlockJC on Reddit. As seen in the post, the TTRPG for the legendary franchise is moving away from its 1st Edition and transforming into Transformers 2nd Edition. This is affecting the TTRPGs for Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers, according to the report. This is happening because these games are all changing their core systems. The first edition of these tabletop RPGs uses a game system called Essence20. This system was created by Renegade Game Studios and released in 2021 for TTRPGs centered around these cartoon franchises, including Transformers. However, during one of the Renegade Con 2026 livestreams, the developer announced that the second edition of these TTRPGs would leave Essence20 behind and instead use the 5.5e rules for Dungeons and Dragons. There are a lot of similarities between both, considering that they are both d20-based systems. However, there are also some differences that make Essence20 feel different from the ruleset released for D&D in 2024. According to the report by TechRaptor, players with access to the Essence20 books will be provided with a free conversion guide, which will help them adapt the Essence20 rules to 5.5e rules, which will be applied to the Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers 2nd Edition Roleplaying Games. Additionally, Starter Sets, already converted to 5.5e, will be available at launch for these games. As seen in the report, the new second editions for these TTRPGs will all be crowdfunded. Transformers and GI Joe will be the first franchises to receive a campaign for their respective second editions, followed by Power Rangers. The report highlights that the My Little Pony Roleplaying Game was not mentioned as a title transitioning from Essence20 to 5.5e rules. It’s unclear how this change will play out. Recently, Wizards of the Coast opened up different possibilities within Dungeons and Dragons with its Universes Beyond initiative. Later this year, we’re getting a World of Warcraft expansion for D&D, and in 2027, a Star Wars expansion. Given that Transformers is licensed by Renegade, it’s unlikely we’ll see our favorite Autobots and Decepticons in any official D&D books, though its change to 5.5e may help pull in new players who are already familiar with Dungeons and Dragons. Created by Hasbro First Film Transformers Latest Film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts Upcoming Films Transformers One First TV Show The Transformers Latest TV Show Transformers: EarthSpark Transformers is a multimedia franchise consisting of movies, TV Shows, video games, and comics. The franchise centers on a race of humanoid robots called the autobots who must protect Earth from the Decepticons. Some of the most popular characters include Megatron, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee. In 2007, the first live-action movie in the franchise was released starring Shia Labeouf.