WotC Hasbro's CEO Reports OGL-Related D&D Beyond Cancellations Had Minimal Impact

Hasbro held a quarterly earnings call recently in which CEO Chris Cocks (who formerly ran WotC before being promoted) indicated that the OGL controversy had a "comparatively minor" impact on D&D's revenue due to D&D Beyond subscription cancellations. He also noted that D&D grew by 20% in 2022 (Magic: the Gathering revenues grew by an astonishing 40% in Quarter 4!)

WotC as a whole was up 22% in Q4 2022.

Lastly, on D&D, we misfired on updating our Open Gaming License, a key vehicle for creators to share or commercialize their D&D inspired content. Our best practice is to work collaboratively with our community, gather feedback, and build experiences that inspire players and creators alike - it's how we make our games among the best in the industry. We have since course corrected and are delivering a strong outcome for the community and game.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

The lawsuits with NuTSR prove that not all threats to WotC are imagined.

They are a cost. The lawyers around here will tell you that the amount of WotC's legal fees incurred so far are substantial.

Would this be an issue if Wizbro had not let the TSR name & logo copyrights lapse?

It may be related in that the draft OGL specifically had provisions about hate speech.

Just because they didn't use the OGL, it doesn't mean another company could not use it to publish something just as bad, or worse.

What OGL products with "hate speech" or otherwise "anti-inclusive content" have been released since August of 2000? Does the Book of Erotic Fantasy or the Sisters of Rapture contain "hate speech" or otherwise "anti-inclusive content"?

Last Tuesday the Red Room released an RPG titled MEN that was within 24 hours reported as potentially containing offensive content, temporarily suspended & pulled for review on DriveThruRPG. This was not an OGL publication nor was it in any stretch compatible with D&D. As a result of the publisher subsequent hostile marketing postings on Twitter during the review period all of the publishers products were removed from the storefront. I've briefly scanned a PDF of the product and encountered multiple instances of misogyny, racism, homo/transphobia, etc. while the product claimed in the introduction that it's just a joke & satire. I think this is ample proof that the community has the tools to police itself.

hopefully that will close the holes we still have

Wizbro could allow a lot of holes to be closed just by releasing 3PPs from their NDAs.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Wizbro could allow a lot of holes to be closed just by releasing 3PPs from their NDAs.

It'll never happen, but yeah.

 

[Hussar]

Something I don’t understand.

Isn’t this the best result we could have wanted? Yes, WotC screwed up. Absolutely. But they fixed their mistake in a matter of a couple of weeks. Isn’t that how it should work?

Compare to the GSL debacle. They never actually fixed anything until 5e released. They screwed up and then kept on without changing anything for a few more years.

Howisthisnot the best result we could have asked for?

 

[bedir than]

Would this be an issue if Wizbro had not let the TSR name & logo copyrights lapse?

No, because you don't have to have registered a trademark in order for it to be valid. LaNasa would be fully in his "right" to steal it even if registered. He's a grifter that's going to grift. Blaming the people he's stealing from for his stealing is ridiculous.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Something I don’t understand.

Isn’t this the best result we could have wanted? Yes, WotC screwed up. Absolutely. But they fixed their mistake in a matter of a couple of weeks. Isn’t that how it should work?

Compare to the GSL debacle. They never actually fixed anything until 5e released. They screwed up and then kept on without changing anything for a few more years.

Howisthisnot the best result we could have asked for?

I mean, their actions still caused damage to people even if they corrected it. This result was definitely the best we could hope for given the circumstances, but that doesn't mean everything instantly resets.

No, because you don't have to have registered a trademark in order for it to be valid. LaNasa would be fully in his "right" to steal it even if registered. He's a grifter that's going to grift. Blaming the people he's stealing from for his stealing is ridiculous.

Yeah, LaNasa is just doing illegal s***, which is why he shouldn't be involved in these discussions in the first place.

 

[darjr]

It's absolutely not a relevant example because we have no examples of anyone publishing something as bad or worse. Even Brink admitted they couldn't find any examples.

At this point the amount of usage NuTSR gets in this topic is starting to pill me on the idea that NuTSR is just an op by Wizards to both look good while beating up racists and a pretext for bringing the hammer down on the OGL.

Think about it: NuTSR started their crap two years ago and Brink said they'd been working on this for two years. Coincidence?!

View attachment 276123

He said they were already working on it before he joined the company two years ago. So they were working on it for longer than two years.

 

[bedir than]

Beyond that, I don't need to make too many assumptions because, at the very least, we can be reasonably sure that they were informed of what their actions would do. We know that Kyle Brink was at the table. There's no way they didn't know what their actions would do. Either they foolish thought the very obvious wouldn't happen, or that they were okay with the fallout. Either way that doesn't paint a pretty picture. With corporations trying to make a lot of money, I typically default to the latter, but a combination of both is fully possible.

Even granting your supposed truisms, this paragraph is quite flawed. Just because someone is in the room doesn't mean they were valued or listened to. Just about every planning disaster had someone in the room that said "this is going to be a disaster" and then it went forward anyway.

 

[Justice and Rule]

He said they were already working on it before he joined the company two years ago. So they were working on it for longer than two years.

Clearly they needed lead time to establish everything.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Even granting your supposed truisms, this paragraph is quite flawed. Just because someone is in the room doesn't mean they were valued or listened to. Just about every planning disaster had someone in the room that said "this is going to be a disaster" and then it went forward anyway.

Yeah, but that goes to my point: if they weren't listened to or valued, then it's not a bureaucratic mistake, that's them deliberately disregarding what they are being told. And there are no flattering explanations for that: they are all just bad.

 

[Hussar]

I mean, their actions still caused damage to people even if they corrected it. This result was definitely the best we could hope for given the circumstances, but that doesn't mean everything instantly resets.



Yeah, LaNasa is just doing illegal s***, which is why he shouldn't be involved in these discussions in the first place.

Who’s resetting anything? ORC is going forward. Black Flag is going forward. People are going to be watching WotC like a hawk.

What more can they do outside of some ridiculously over the top suggestions that have been lobbed on this forum?