Wizards of the Coast Pledges to Leave OGL in Place ‘Untouched’ After Massive D&D Fan Backlash

In a stunning reversal from the leaked (and later confirmed) changes to their Open-Gaming License (OGL 1.0), Dungeons & Dragons maker Wizards of the Coast has walked back its plans for OGL 1.1, which would have overturned their longstanding rules that allows creators to make and sell their own content based on the 5e rules system.

In a blog post today, Wizards announced that they would no longer be pursuing a reversal of OGL 1.0 and instead would be leaving it in place without any changes whatsoever.

This reversal comes after the Hasbro-owned tabletop giant solicited their communities’ feedback on the proposed OGL 1.2, which itself was a reversal of the 1.1 version and made several concessions, including removing royalty payments and giving creators ownership over the things they create. The feedback Wizards received though, clearly indicated that this version wasn’t good enough.

Discussing the survey’s results, D&D executive producer Kyle Brink wrote, “These live survey results are clear. You want OGL 1.0a. You want irrevocability. You like Creative Commons. The feedback is in such high volume and its direction is so plain that we’re acting now.”

“We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.”

He then outlined the change in direction by writing:

“1. We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.

2. We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.

3. You choose which you prefer to use.”

According to Wizards, their survey showed that a staggering 88% of respondents had no interest in publishing their works under the proposed OGL 1.2 and 89% were dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0. These results are hardly surprising given the vocal backlash from creators and fans alike, and an online campaign to cancel D&D paid subscriptions that reportedly made a big dent in Hasbro’s bottomline. The fact that so many game makers who used OGL 1.0 recently made plans to abandon OGL may also have had some impact.

Author: Travis Northup. [Source Link (*), IGN All]

Shop with us!