The Open Gaming License (i.e. OGL) has been a nearly 23-year cornerstone of the Dungeons & Dragons player base and third party creators. It helped the D&D brand reach popularity in the mainstream, thanks to allowing most of the mechanics and rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game to be used freely by fans and smaller third party creators. However, the leaked draft of the updated OGL caused these same fans and creators to oppose the proposed changes. On January 11, Wizards of the Coast announced there would be an update to the controversial OGL 1.1 via the Dungeons & Dragons and D&D Beyond official social media channels:
— D&D Beyond (@DnDBeyond) January 10, 2023 This was followed up today by issuing a statement and news on the OGL development and how it was affected by the overwhelming opposition to the provisions:
Please read our update on the Open Game License: https://t.co/9y4Z5MZpiq — Dungeons & Dragons (@Wizards_DnD) January 13, 2023 The update posted on the DND Beyond official site began with stating the supposed goals of the update to the Open Gaming License: It should be noted that while the first two points were mentioned in the leaked version of the OGL update that made rounds on the internet, the third point does not seem to be consistent. The leaked OGL 1.1 specifically enumerated revenue Tiers that would be applied to entities that profit from the OGL, largely based on how much they made. On that note, the update on the Open Gaming License continued by implying that it was Wizards of the Coast themselves that leaked the draft in order to gauge the response of the community and third party creators: Following this was an admission that the backlash and negative reaction of the players and concerned creators was not what they had expected: The phrase “rolled a 1” has become part of the lexicon of modern slang, referring to a failure. In the D&D rules, it is generally a “critical miss” when an attack is being made; thus, the attack missed and some other bad thing has happened. This part of the update leads to the announcement that WotC is revising the OGL further and, thus, will not be released this January 13, as initially projected: One key point at this part of the announcement is that content and products released under the OGL 1.0a will supposedly be safe: What follows is the confirmation that WoTC is doubling back on ownership of any content created by non-WotC parties under the OGL, which was one of the major points of contention: The update then confirms that the OGL 1.1 will not be released for now, but also stating: The last part of the update from the Dungeons & Dragons studio blog doubles down on the implication that it was always part of the plan to solicit the gaming community’s feedback before releasing the updated OGL: The post closed out by thanking the devoted D&D players and creators. The full transcript of the update to the status of the Open Gaming License can be found at the official D&D Beyond website. Wizards of the Coast seems to have paused and took notice of the negativity vs. the OGL 1.1. But is it too late? But is this a scenario of being too little, too late? The damage to the brand trust, particularly with a new edition called OneD&D heralding the end of the beloved D&D 5th edition, may be irreparable. Moreover, this would appear endemic of the situation under Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro, reflected in the similar issues with Magic: The Gathering. The D&D player community has largely pushed back against the provisions shown in the leaked draft and many have cancelled their subscriptions to D&D Beyond. Plus, third party creators and businesses such as Paizo, Kobold Press, and more have taken steps to address the controversy and initiated their own efforts to create an Open RPG license. With the Dungeons & Dragons brand expanding further into mainstream media through the upcoming big screen movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and a new live-action TV series on Paramount+, the Open Gaming License controversy may adversely impact these projects.
