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In mid-December, a draft of the new Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License was leaked, which is now causing uproar in the tabletop RPG community.
Journalist Linda Codega received an unofficial version before publication and reported on what changes will be made to the license.
The Open Gaming License (OGL) defines under what circumstances D&D content may be used by third parties. According to the leaked information, these circumstances are to be defined much more strictly in the new version. In addition, third parties who make money using the D&D license will have to report their products and associated income to Wizards of the Coast and even pay a percentage to Wizards.
Today we explain what this means for the tabletop RPG scene and who might suffer as a result. It should be noted again at this point that the new version of the OGL is by no means final and has not yet been published. Final judgment can only be made once the finished document is published, and that will still take a while.
This is the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License
You can find the original D&D OGL here. It was first published in 2002 and is a relatively short document that regulates the use of Dungeons & Dragons content by third parties. This document has enabled a multitude of external designers, publishers, and creators to develop new products for D&D. Examples include many pieces of content on DMsGuild that were written by people other than Wizards but use the D&D framework. However, there are also large, profitable projects like the Critical Role books or fantastic Kickstarter projects like Humblewood or Drakkenheim that were able to be published due to the Open Gaming License. Indeed, the flood of homebrew content for D&D is competition for Wizards of the Coast’s own books, but it has also enormously helped D&D grow and become as large and successful as it is. Today, D&D is the largest and most well-known tabletop RPG system in the world. Partly because of these fans and creators.
Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License 1.1: What’s Changing
In 2022, Wizards announced they wanted to update the OGL. The new D&D OGL 1.1 is supposed to be over 9,000 words long. It addresses new technologies like blockchain and NFTs and takes a clear stance against discriminatory content. That’s good!
However, it invalidates the old OGL. Many publishers and creators will have to revise their products to meet the requirements of the new OGL. Also interesting is the new regulation regarding licensing fees: While smaller creators initially don’t have to pay fees to Wizards, once they earn more than $750,000 with a D&D product, they do. The fees are supposed to amount to 5% of income.
The updated license is supposed to allow the creation of tabletop RPGs and D&D expansions in print media and static electronic file formats. However, it is supposed to prohibit the use of D&D content for videos, virtual tabletops or VTT campaigns, computer games, novels, apps, graphic novels, music, unless these are authorized by Wizards. Additionally, all creators must clearly and distinctly differentiate between “their content” and “licensed content” so that it’s clearly recognizable to buyers that it’s not an official Wizards of the Coast product.
Fan content will still be allowed though. This includes free content: fan art, videos, podcasts, blogs, websites, streaming content, tattoos, etc. So Dice-Scroller will still be allowed to exist in the future.
WotC also receives the right to use all third-party content that uses the D&D license. Whether commercial or non-commercial. While this supposedly won’t violate third-party copyrights, it still raises questions about how this will work.
The D&D OGL 1.1 is supposed to take effect as early as January 13, 2023.
What the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License 1.1 Means
The outcry in the community was huge that Wizards is restricting the gaming license after 20 years.
For many of us, not much will change. However, the update will be a shot across the bow for many creators and publishers. Wizards is reducing the incentive to launch large D&D projects when you earn less from them and when you no longer have exclusive usage rights to your products.
I can understand that Wizards of the Coast wants to limit the wild growth of D&D content. Moreover, Wizards is a company whose primary task is to make profit. Currently, they see revenues generated from their license going into third parties’ pockets. However, precisely this open policy made Dungeons and Dragons so big and popular. There’s clearly a danger of alienating their own fans and customers.
Moreover, it’s in the nature of tabletop RPGs to come up with things and create your own content. Many of these copyright violations arise from fun D&D ideas and offer great expansions to the existing D&D universe.
It remains to be seen whether this move was the right one for Dungeons and Dragons.
My sources:
Dungeons & Dragons‘ New License Tightens Its Grip on Competition
Dungeons and Dragons: Leaked OGL Reveals Plans for Homebrew in One D&D
D&D’s stricter licensing rules might impact some beloved RPGs
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