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Wizards of the Coast has apologised for the way it handled the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License (OGL) revisions, which sparked a massive community backlash over the past week.
Gizmodo leaked details of planned revisions for an OGL 1.1, and Wizards of the Coast was immediately met with an orchestrated pushback from fans and prominent community members over rule changes that would, among other things, require anyone making money through the use of D&D elements to report earnings to the company.
According to Gizmodo, the original OGL, which was to be rendered “unauthorised” after the release of 1.1, gave non-Wizards of the Coast publishers relative free rein over the use and sale of D&D’s existing elements.
As a result of the ensuing backlash, Wizards of the Coast delayed the release of OGL 1.1 in order to rework major elements based on community feedback. These changes would remove the leaked royalty structure and licence back provisions “that some people were afraid was a means for us to steal work”, and include assurances “you will own the content you create”. They would also explicitly only apply to TTRPGs (rather than livestreams and cosplay), and would have no impact on content released under the original OGL.
“First, though,” he continued, “let me apologise. We apologise. We made a mistake. Our draught OGL language and requirements were disruptive to creators and did not support our core goals of protecting and cultivating an inclusive play environment, as well as limiting the OGL to TTRPGs. Then we made matters worse by remaining silent for too long. We harmed fans and creators by failing to communicate frequently and clearly, when more frequent and clear communication could have prevented so much of this.”
Following that initial statement, Wizards of the Coast has now published a new post in which they make additional promises to the community. “The last few days and weeks have been extremely difficult for everyone,” executive producer Kyle Brink wrote on the D&D blog. “As players, fans, and game stewards, we can’t – and won’t – let things go on like this.”
Wizards of the Coast, according to Brink, will now move forward in a new direction “”We’ll listen to you, and then we’ll share with you what we’ve heard, much like we do in our Unearthed Arcana and One D&D playtests,” it says. This will be a lengthy discussion before any future version of the OGL is released.”
Wizards of the Coast has now released new proposed OGL documentation for review and feedback. Anyone who views the document can complete a brief survey with questions about the revisions and open form fields for additional feedback.
Brink stated that the survey will be open for “at least two weeks,” with advance notice given before it closes. Following that, the company will “compile, analyse, and react to” findings before sharing them with the community. “We are committed to giving creators both input into and room to prepare for any OGL update,” Brink wrote, before highlighting a “tonne of stuff” that will not be affected by OGL updates:
“I like your video content. The Wizards Fan Content Policy has always protected you as a commentator, streamer, podcaster, liveplay cast member, or other video creator on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and TikTok. The OGL hasn’t touched (and won’t touch) any of this. Your personal accessories for your own content. There will be no changes to the OGL that will affect your ability to sell minis, novels, apparel, dice, and other items based on your creations, characters, and worlds.
Non-published works, such as contracted services. If you want to publish works that reference fifth edition content via the SRD, you must use the OGL. The OGL does not apply to commissioned work, paid DM services, consulting, and so on. VTT material. Any updates to the OGL will continue to allow any creator to publish content on VTTs and VTT publishers to use OGL content on their platform.
Your earnings. There will be no royalties or financial reporting obligations. Your content is your property. You will continue to own your content and will not be required to licence it back.”
Your OGL 1.0a material. Nothing will affect any OGL 1.0a content you have published. That will always be licenced under the terms of the OGL 1.0a. Content provided by the DMs Guild. The content you publish on DMs Guild is made available through a Community Content Agreement with Dungeon Masters Guild. This is not going to change.