Xechnao, as someone above mentioned, Mike Mearls is your hypothetical guy. He was hired and help craft 4e. This is exactly what WotC did and would do. So that's the answer. Is there some manner in which Mearls doesn't fit your proposal?
I agree with the example of Mike Mearls. The only difference that I see as of now, is that Mearls was hired before Wotc did what it did with the OGL, aka the GSL.
Now, Wotc may seem to some people that has somehow actively burnt bridges with the OGL. Moreover there are other companies that carry this OGL banner -while as said Wotc does not.
Another thing that comes to mind is that Mearls, as another poster put it, worked on the strengths of the existing system, aka D20. I find it more interesting to think of the case that this new game design is something really innovative or that innovative so that Wotc should have to put some thought and probably a bit of risk to make the step to change the system it has been carrying. I find it interesting because there are pluses and negatives to consider. The negatives I believe are aparent to most people. For the posistives I would say that Wotc in our market or hobby is always risking a bit nonetheless -and this risk would be more important in the scenario of the OP. Moreover, D&D has to change, has to evolve and rather for the better. If it does remain stagnant there is not even a risk to worry about: the line will just have to face commercial death.
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