billd91
Not your screen monkey (he/him)
Um, the OGL is there for 5E. They wouldn't have to use WotC IP at all. They've already done just that for a decade.
That literally is WotC IP - it's just WotC IP that they have reliable access to because WotC has willingly ceded most of their ability to gatekeep it.
But the other element of this is WotC's future plans. Paizo had the ability to continue to support 3.5 thanks to the OGL and SRD when WotC decided to shift gears and put out 4e. But thanks to licensing changes, they didn't have as much access to 4e and the IP wasn't necessarily reliably available and 3.5 was going out of print - hence the gamble that was Pathfinder. What happens if WotC changes direction again in the wake of 5e? Granted, that would be dumb, particularly after their 4e experience and lessons learned and the rollicking success of 5e. But, it's not like stupidity hasn't been a recurrent and pervasive thing in the late 2010s decade...