It was revealed during D&D Celebration 2021 that the fifth edition core Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks will be upgraded as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations for the RPG franchise. This means that the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual will receive new versions in 2024.
The D&D editions that have existed in the past didn't maintain the same rules throughout their run, as new versions of core rulebooks have been released before. These new rules were usually easy to mix with the old books, as they often included guides for making the two sets compatible with one another.. The developers of the game launched updated books at the midpoint of their run, based on fan feedback, and removing annoying exploits from D&D's rules.
It seems D&D fifth edition is ready for its first major rules overhaul. The "Future of D&D" panel at D&D Celebration 2021 revealed that big changes are coming to the game. These will be released as part of the 50th anniversary of the game, which will take place in 2024. So far, though, no concrete details about how D&D 5E will be changing have yet to be shared.
The plans for the next evolution of the game are still in motion, and there are plenty of decisions left to be made. Publisher Wizards of the Coast has revealed player surveys will be distributed in 2022 in order to give players their say about how they want fifth edition D&D rules to change. The developers have assured fans that the new rulebooks will be backward-compatible with the existing books, so it's not as if the existing and upcoming books will become out of date in 2024.
There has been a lot of speculation about a sixth edition of D&D being in the works, but this will not be it. D&D had its best-ever year of sales in 2020 and the franchise is riding a huge wave of popularity, so it would be risky of Wizards of the Coast to gamble on an entirely new, potentially unpopular edition. Instead, this sounds like an upgraded rules change coming at what could be the middle of D&D 5E's life cycle, much like how 3E received the 3.5E update, which added new rules while still accommodating the old books. The 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons is still two years away, so it might be a while before more about what the future holds for the game and its fifth edition.
Source: Dungeons & Dragons/YouTube