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.

 

[Oofta]

NuTSR is neither a threat to WoTC nor is it OGL related. It keeps being brought up as a reason or defense for their actions and it simply is not.

It's a clear and relevant example of the kind of crap some people will publish. 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.

 

[Justice and Rule]

It's a clear and relevant example of the kind of crap some people will publish. 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.

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?!

 

[Oofta]

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

Trying to start a new conspiracy theory? That's how the "People eat 8 spiders per year in their sleep" started.

 

[Justice and Rule]

Trying to start a new conspiracy theory? That's how the "People eat 8 spiders per year in their sleep" started.

I mean, makes more sense then the whole "This was really defending the brand from Disney and Meta" line.

 

[Jahydin]

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

That theory is absolute genius.

After reading Trust Me, I'm Lying, this seems pretty reasonable, haha.

 

[Justice and Rule]

That theory is absolute genius.

After reading Trust Me, I'm Lying, this seems pretty reasonable, haha.

"Clearly if there is no racist threat to the D&D brand, we must construct one!"

 

[Bill Zebub]

No one thought they were philanthropic, just everyone assumed they were not dumb enough to go back on something they had said they wouldn't do for years and had built up an entire community around. It's like saying "I can't believe you didn't expect them to completely self-destruct their image?" Well, yeah, we thought they would be smarter than that.

I agree.

But that’s a different claim than evil or malicious.

 

[Justice and Rule]

I agree.

But that’s a different claim than evil or malicious.

Well, the malicious part is unnecessarily attempting to destroy a bunch of people's livelihoods in the pursuit of a quick buck by betraying what was the social contract of the community.

 

[mamba]

No, that's about normal percentage wise. Licenses are going to charge on revenue, not profit.

yes, the basis being revenue I understand, but the 25% is 3 to 5 times a normal rate from my understanding / what was said in some other post. Maybe it is when the licensee can use the licensor’s IP, but that is not the case here…

You did not comment on WotC getting a free, perpetual, irrevocable sublicense to your work that they can further sublicense… is that still par for the course?

What about being able to change the terms at any time? I doubt they can change at all in closed licenses (outside of renewals…)

So no, even if 25% is normal, which I am not sure it is, this still is draconian.

 

[LordEntrails]

I know that NuTSR is a great punching bag, but they are not a threat. Nothing of what was done here addresses anything that has to deal with NuTSR. It is not a shield for these actions.

They are a cost. The lawyers around here will tell you that the amount of WotC's legal fees incurred so far are substantial. My guess (uninformed) is that they are approaching 7 figures in costs so far. And it will go higher before settlement. WotC brought in the big and expensive guns to quash this as thoroughly as possible. That isn't cheap.

Also I'm really getting frustrated with the whole disconnect between the idea that I shouldn't trust corporations or humanize them in bad ways but also I should trust them when they try to do better and humanize them in good ways like learning from mistakes.

I don't think of it as trust. But rather faith in humanity. I chose to believe that most people will try to act and make individual decisions in a moral and ethical way given their understanding of the situation and the knowledge they have. Others do not need to have this viewpoint. But my belief in this viewpoint makes me what I think is a better person than if I don't have this viewpoint.

Unfortunately that leaves me with no good explanation for OGL 1.1, since I arrive at whoever called those shots was highly irrational…
I wish I had an explanation where the actions were rational, I just do not see it

Organizational experience indicates that this is easy to explain in a large organization with imperfect communication, multiple goals, numerous pressures and competing viewpoints. Lots of organizations end up making what is from an outside perspective and with hindsight very irrational decisions, yet diving into the ten thousands decisions that let to the irrational outcome show that each little was rational given the circumstances. I'm sure many with experience in this area could point out such examples. All the ones I can think of atm are not very related.

I do not think most closed licenses have such draconian terms (sublicensing the product, 25% of gross as fee).

DMSGuild is 50%. OBS is about 30% (depends on some factors I'm not familiar with).