Statement on OGL from WotC

Wizards of the Coast has made a short statement regarding the ongoing rumors surrounding OneD&D and the Open Gaming License. In a short response to Comicbook.com, the company said "We will continue to support the thousands of creators making third-party D&D content with the release of One D&D in 2024. While it is certain our Open Game License (OGL) will continue to evolve, just as it has since its inception, we're too early in the development of One D&D to give more specifics on the OGL or System Reference Document (SRD) at this time."

Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Support for Third-Party Material as New Edition Draws Near

Wizards of the Coast has responded to rumors of changes to the Open Game License and System [...]

comicbook.com

It's not clear what WotC means when they say that the OGL will 'continue to evolve' -- while there have been two versions of the license released over the years, each is non-rescindible so people are free to use whichever version of the license they wish. Indeed, that is written into the license itself -- "Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License."

During the D&D 4th Edition era, WotC published a new, separate license called the Game System Licence (GSL). While it was used by third party publishers, it was generally upopular.

 

[Marc Radle]

OneD&D books are already being released.

They are?

 

[MockingBird]

"Time is a flat circle"

 

[darjr]

They are?

I think he means Tasha’s and monsters were the stealth .5 edition of 5e. Or something similar.

If you agree about the above or not 5e did indeed survive it.

 

[Burnside]

It's almost a non-statement, but I think it's positive because it at least acknowledges that they know people are concerned about this issue and affirms (in a totally non-specific and broad way) general support for 3rd party content.

I'm not sure what more people really want from them at this point. OneD&D doesn't exist yet, so there's not much specific to say about it.

 

[Hussar]

Yuppers, the typical response is ... typical.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

"Time is a flat circle"

"All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again."

 

[LordEntrails]

I fear youtubers are just killing it... I really can't believe how upset someone can be that a system you like gets a long needed upgrade.

This is because...

People are making a mountain out of a molehill to drive clicks.

Exactly.
Youtubers make money by people watching their videos. They get people to watch by making controversial or fear based statements.
Don't feed the algorithm!

 

[SkidAce]

Dungeons & Dragons Clarifies Support for Third-Party Material as New Edition Draws Near

Wizards of the Coast has responded to rumors of changes to the Open Game License and System [...]

comicbook.com

Well, I assume this may have been mentioned already...but it looks like all those who said that WotC would never make a statement were incorrect.

This is not a dig at them, its a statement that for all the truisms, and common sense, and best business practices about who does what, we very rarely have access to all the info that cause people to make decisions, or their motivations.

So I feel its cool to speculate and discuss, but always consider there could be factors we don't know, and then "voila" things happen that would "never" happen.

 

[SkidAce]

And ... as predicted they commented and already people are complaining.

Yeah.

I was with yah in the "they won't say ANYTHING" camp, but I was wrong.

Hope this doesnt turn into the other OGL threads.

 

[Hussar]

I was also very much in the camp that they won't say anything. I'd actually prefer if they hadn't to be honest. There just really is no upside for anyone in this.