WotC and the OGL

[thecasualoblivion]

I still hear a lot of people claiming that the dumping of the OGL had to do with money, or the corporate suits at Hasbro. From everything I've read, the OGL seems to have had little impact on the bottom line of D&D, positively or negatively. It was a big PR boost at the launch of 3E, and it never really produced the results or benefits Ryan Dancy imagined. Reading between the lines of statements from WotC, it has always sounded to me like the big issue with the OGL wasn't money but creative control and brand identity. The OGL wasn't producing the monetary benefits to justify the loss of control over content and brand identity it entailed.

 

[Umbran]

The problem with discussing the OGL is that it sort of requires internet mind reading. In order to do proper analysis, we need to know not just the public statements about the OGL, but also the private business plans.

We are always guessing what WotC, as a whole, ever really expected from the OGL, and if, how, and why those expectations changed such that they did not release 4e materials under the license. We don't know - we can only speculate.