WotC D&D Historian Ben Riggs says the OGL fiasco was Chris Cocks idea.

[Mull Ponders]

Did anyone go to the seminar at Gen Con by Ben Riggs, The Battle for the Soul of D&D? I had a conflict and missed it.

 

[mamba]

Eh, from a D&D perspective? I don't think that Chris Cocks is going to be spending a whole lotta time micromanaging D&D.

sure, he does not care about the details, but the big decisions, like whether to drop the OGL, maybe even whether to stay 5e compatible or not, I would not rule it out... in fact I assume he was the one who had the OGL idea before he got promoted

Chris Cocks became CEO of Hasbro in February, 2022. Prior to that, he was President and COO of WotC. As I recall, Kyle Brink said changes to the OGL were already in the works when he joined that company in February 2021. So in as much as changing the OGL was the brainchild of Chris Cocks (if what Riggs says is true), it was during his tenure as President and COO of WotC, not as CEO of Hasbro.

I know, he had the idea at WotC, and once he was CEO of Hasbro rather than out of the picture no one dared move against it. Doesn't mean he is any less responsible

 

[SteveC]

I was wondering if this thread would resurface. Did anyone go? Is there a smoking OGL gun? I would 100% not be surprised, mind you, but did evidence get presented?