Dungeons & Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has released a statement (opens in new tab) in response to the ongoing turmoil over the handling of the Open Gaming License (OGL). A post from D&D executive producer Kyle Brink apologizes for WotC’s handling of the controversy thus far, and promises a more “open and transparent” approach to a new OGL that tries to incorporate community feedback. take.
The furor was originally fueled by a draft version of a new OGL (opens in new tab) which seemed to make the license significantly less open, necessitating royalties to WotC from successful creators and giving the company more control over third-party works produced under the license. It would also have prevented creators from using the current, more open license, in direct contradiction to WotC’s previous promises that licensees could use older OGL versions if new ones weren’t to their liking. But it now looks like the company is leaving all that behind.
“We’re sorry. We were wrong,” Brink’s post reads, before going on to say that WotC’s draft OGL isn’t “[protect and cultivate] an inclusive gaming environment”, and that the company’s silence on the issue “has hurt fans and creators, when more frequent and clear communication could have prevented so much of this”.
“From now on, we’re going to do this in a better way,” says Brink, describing a new, community-based process based on the company’s current approach to developing D&D itself. Brink says the community will get a new draft version of the OGL “on or before Friday, January 20.” Players will then be able to complete a survey, including both pre-written questions and open forms for general feedback, to express their views on the revised license. After “at least two weeks,” the survey closes, after which WotC “compiles, analyzes, responds, and presents” its findings.
Regardless of what happens with the new license, Brink is making a few creative efforts that definitely won’t be affected by future changes to the OGL. These are:
- Video content: Commenters, streamers, YouTubers, and TikTok stars are subject to the Wizards Fan Content Policy, which the OGL has nothing to do with.
- Accessories for own content: You can still sell all sorts of physical trinkets and doodads, such as dice and minis, related to your own “creations, characters, and worlds.”
- Unpublished works: Basically, if someone pays you to DM a D&D game, or commissions you to do a personal work, the new OGL won’t interfere.
- Virtual tabletops: The new OGL won’t mess with your ability to publish your licensed content for use on platforms like Roll20.
- Content on DMs Guild: This is published under a separate agreement with DMs Guild itself.
- Content published under OGL 1.0a: Content published under this version of the OGL will not forward to the terms of the new one.
- Gain: Brink says the new OGL will have no “royalty or financial reporting requirements.”
- Ownership of content: Creators will “keep owning [their] content with no license back requirements”.
It all seems pretty rosy, but we’ll have to wait and see if WotC lives up to its promises. For more than a few fans, and even some publishers, the damage is done, and no amount of flattery or apology will bring them back. As for the rest? We’ll see how this investigation goes, I guess.