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]

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.

You honestly think that this issue would have drawn out over the course of 2 years if Wizbro had not let the TSR name & logo copyrights lapse? You honestly think that if Wizbro had not let the TSR name & logo copyrights lapse they would have not gotten an immediate injunction against LaNasa?

 

[darjr]

Clearly they needed lead time to establish everything.

I don't even know you anymore.

 

[Justice and Rule]

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?

"Resetting" refers to their relationship with the community. They still hurt people with their actions, forcing people to scramble and adjust their lives. They also burned a lot of trust that the community had in them. That doesn't recover over night, but over time.

Honestly, just not doing shady s*** for an extended period of time might be enough for most, including myself. But again, that will take time.

I don't even know you anymore.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

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

Release the unedited 3.0, 3.5 & Modern SRDs into CC in addition to releasing an updated OGL that explicitly clarifies its irreconcilability, explicitly reaffirms the previous 22½ years of Open Game Content and explicitly states that the previous OGLs cannot be rescinded, revoked or otherwise "de-authorized".

 

[Hussar]

Release the unedited 3.0, 3.5 & Modern SRDs into CC in addition to releasing an updated OGL that explicitly clarifies its irreconcilability, explicitly reaffirms the previous 22½ years of Open Game Content and explicitly states that the previous OGLs cannot be rescinded, revoked or otherwise "de-authorized".

Case in point.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

Case in point.

Wizbro explicitly reaffirming the previous status quo in legal documents is in your opinion "ridiculously over the top"? Actions speak louder than words.

 

[mamba]

There's no way they didn't know what their actions would do. Either they foolish thought the very obvious wouldn't happen,

this appears to be a contradiction

 

[Justice and Rule]

this appears to be a contradiction

When I say they had to "know", it's that they were informed of what would happen, that it was an informed choice. Does that make more sense?

 

[Bill Zebub]

You don't need to make assumptions about motivation or logic there: I'm just stating facts.

1. They were taking an unnecessary action. No matter how you want to argue it, I think it's pretty obvious that anyone who has any sense of the community that these actions were utterly and completely unnecessary. This is, to me, inarguable. They were nonsensical at best, and deliberately harmful at worst. If you want to argue that they were necessary, then feel free: I'd love to see someone try.

I'm not even sure what you mean by "necessary".

But I can see why decision-makers and lawyers, with backgrounds in other areas and without intimate understanding of this particular hobby/ecosystem, would look at all these other people making money on their IP, imagine all sorts of bad things that could happen, and think, "Whoah, this is totally out of hand. We need to get more control over this."

I mean, you said it above: "...it's pretty obvious to anybody who has any sense of the community..." Well, obviously the people who won the internal argument didn't have a sense of the community, and didn't believe the people who did. No conspiracy theory necessary.





I wish the public internet had been around when New Coke was introduced. I bet a lot of the comments were the same as these.

 

[Scribe]

I dont even understand the conversation anymore.

Is Wizards being defended? Why?
Is Wizards being 'forgiven'? Why?

What even is the point of debate currently, like the thesis?

They clearly did wrong, knew it, owned it, backed off in a complete 180. Its as good as an admission of guilt as there is to get at this point. They dropped one in the middle of a packed room, and everyone saw them.

Whats even up for debate lol.