WotC Backs Down: Original OGL To Be Left Untouched; Whole 5E Rules Released as Creative Commons

Hundreds of game publishers sigh in relief as, after extensive pressure exerted by the entire open gaming community, WotC has agreed to leave the original Open Gaming License untouched and put the whole of the 5E rules into Creative Commons.

So, what's happened?

• The Open Gaming Licence v1.0a which most of the D&D third party industry relies on, will be left untouched for now.
• The whole of the D&D 5E SRD (ie the rules of the game less the fluff text) has been released under a Creative Commons license.

OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons

Over the past few weeks you, the community, have made your voices heard. And we’ve listened. OGL 1.0a will remain untouched AND the entire SRD 5.1...

www.dndbeyond.com

WotC has a history of 'disappearing' inconvenient FAQs and stuff, such as those where they themselves state that the OGL is irrevocable, so I'll copy this here for posterity.

When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey. Here's what you said:

• 88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
• 90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
• 89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
• 86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
• 62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.

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.

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.

This Creative Commons license makes the content freely available for any use. We don't control that license and cannot alter or revoke it. It's open and irrevocable in a way that doesn't require you to take our word for it. And its openness means there's no need for a VTT policy. Placing the SRD under a Creative Commons license is a one-way door. There's no going back.

Our goal here is to deliver on what you wanted.

So, what about the goals that drove us when we started this process?

We wanted to protect the D&D play experience into the future. We still want to do that with your help. We're grateful that this community is passionate and active because we'll need your help protecting the game's inclusive and welcoming nature.

We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs. With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play.
Here's a PDF of SRD 5.1 with the Creative Commons license. By simply publishing it, we place it under an irrevocable Creative Commons license. We'll get it hosted in a more convenient place next week. It was important that we take this step now, so there's no question.

• SRD 5.1-CC

We'll be closing the OGL 1.2 survey now.

We'll keep talking with you about how we can better support our players and creators. Thanks as always for continuing to share your thoughts.

Kyle Brink
Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

What does this mean?

The original OGL sounds safe for now, but WotC has not admitted that they cannot revoke it. That's less of an issue now the 5E System Reference Document is now released to Creative Commons (although those using the 3E SRD or any third party SRDs still have issues as WotC still hasn't revoked the incorrect claim that they can revoke access to those at-will).

At this point, if WotC wants anybody to use whatever their new OGL v1.x turns out to be, there needs to be one heck of a carrot. What that might be remains to be seen.

Pathfinder publlsher Paizo has also commented on the latest developments.

We welcome today’s news from Wizards of the Coast regarding their intention not to de-authorize OGL 1.0a. We still believe there is a powerful need for an irrevocable, perpetual independent system-neutral open license that will serve the tabletop community via nonprofit stewardship. Work on the ORC license will continue, with an expected first draft to release for comment to participating publishers in February.

Over 1,500 Publishers Support Paizo's Upcoming Open RPG Creator's License

Paizo has revealed some of the 1,500+ tabletop RPG publishers who have expressed an interest in their new Open RPG Creator's License (ORC), describing the group as the 'ORC Alliance'. The license itself is still being worked on, so these 1,500 publishers have not actually seen it or signed...

www.enworld.org

 

[Cadence]

Unless the substantially change 1D&D, which was not their plan, it wouldn't matter to much for 5e.

I understand that one recent past edition was neither under 1.0a or in the 5.1 SRD, and some said it was all set for being more video-gamey if that was what was desired...

 

[beholdsa]

I'm happy that they took this step and that SRD 5.1 is now CC. But I do find it curious that they didn't mention OneD&D or what they intend to do with any future content. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Umbran]

...but I'd like to dedicate them to all of the posters, here and elsewhere on the Internet, who said that the OGL v1.0a was as good as gone, that WotC couldn't be made to change course, and that we should give up on it in order to negotiate a better OGL v1.2.

Mod Note:

Folks, using this as an opportunity to take swipes at your fellow gamers is... pretty low. We should not have "I told you so." or "Nyah, nyah, I was right and you were wrong!" in our hearts or words at this time.

Be cool. Revel in what you have. Don't lord it over anyone.

 

[Remathilis]

I'm shocked. No way in a 1000 years did I expect total capitulation. It tells me one of three things happened.

1. Enough legal consul told them they would lose any challenge to 1.0a that the dream was dead
2. The survey, cancelled D&DB and bad press had enough of an impact that they realized they were burning their brand.
3. There are a number of stuffed and satisfied mind-flayers that are leaving the c-suite right now.

Whatever the case, I imagine the fallout of this drama is going to take years to resolve. But I'll take the win I couldn't imagine would come.

 

[dave2008]

To me, it's more about taking a stand. They screwed up. I'm leaving. I'm not coming back just because they apologized, because I can't trust that they're sincere. Especially since we know they apologized because they were losing money, not because they really accept that they screwed up.

Well we don't really know why they did what they did. But it doesn't matter if they are sincere or not: they released the 5.1 SRD under CC. You can download it now - I did!

 

[Maxperson]

That's it then.

They're not updating the language of the OGL 1.0a, but we've won?

They could do it again next month. They really needed to make OGL 1.0b(or whatever numbering) and include true irrevocability language. I don't know that this is going to be enough for the creators. We will have to see how they respond.

 

[Umbran]

But I do find it curious that they didn't mention OneD&D or what they intend to do with any future content.

It is not curious at all. In the context of a large organization, getting them to this point was likely a Herculean task as it was. Expecting them to have a full-on developed strategy for the next thing is asking a bit much.

 

[dave2008]

Is there anything preventing WOTC to attempt deauthorizing the OGL v1.oa in the future?

Not yet; however, they already released all of the 5e SRD 5.1 to CC, so for 5e at least it doesn't really matter.

 

[The Scythian]

Is there anything preventing WOTC to attempt deauthorizing the OGL v1.oa in the future?

It was clear that their attempt to revoke OGL 1.0a was to basically take the 5.1 SRD out of it. Now that they've put the entire 5.1 SRD out under a Creative Commons license, it removes their incentive to mess with OGL 1.0a.

 

[Maxperson]

Wow. That's....total victory. And for those who say they needed to make an OGL 1.0b to make it irrevocable, the Creative Commons release does that better anyway.

Okay. Cool.