of Blog post published on Friday (opens in new tab)Wizards of the Coast has announced that it will completely retire the proposed Open Game License (OGL) 1.2 that threw the tabletop RPG community into turmoil earlier this month.
Instead, Wizards left the previously dormant OGL 1.0 and released the latest D&D System Reference Document (SRD 5.1) under the Creative Commons license (thanks game radar for the occasion).
Overview of OGL Controversy Timeline
- The original OGL was introduced in D&D 3rd Edition in 2000, allowing other companies and creators to work on D&D and the d20 system without paying or overseeing Wizards.
- Revised OGL 1.1 draft leaked in early January (opens in new tab)proposed royalty payments and creative control by Wizards over derivative works.
- Wizards stepped back (opens in new tab)introduced a softer OGL 1.2 to supersede the original and launched the community research cited in today’s announcement.
The results of this survey, which included 15,000 respondents, were pretty dismal. 88% said he doesn’t want to publish TTRPG content in OGL 1.2, and 89% said he’s unhappy with the deauthorization of OGL 1.0a. 62% are happy Wizards put the previous version of his SRD under Creative Commons, and most opponents want it. more Content protected by Creative Commons.
In response, Wizards of the Coast bowed. Leaving OGL 1.0, I add the latest SRD 5.1 to the list of previous D&D materials under Creative Commons, and allow free distribution and use of it forever.
“We do not control that license and cannot change or revoke it,” D&D Executive Producer Kyle Brink wrote in the blog post above. “Putting SRD under Creative Commons is a one-way door. There is no turning back.”
Wizards of the Coast has finished investigating OGL 1.2. While this represents a decisive victory for the community, there are still questions and no small amount of animosity towards Wizards, who were the first to push for the OGL changes. PC Gamer Senior Editor Robin Valentine wonders if OGL is worth fighting for. (opens in new tab) First of all, he argued that this could be an opportunity for a fresh start in tabletop roleplay. We are bound to a game full of ,” Robin wrote. “Some are just awkward, others are increasingly problematic. Is it a situation worth fighting to protect?”
The question remains Paizo (opens in new tab) The recently announced Open RPG Creative License (ORC) — this “system-agnostic” rival license had worldwide support. 1,500 TTRPG publishers (opens in new tab) A powerful brain that, as of last week, may have been too late for Wizards to counter. OGL will live on, but will smaller publishers and independent creators leave for good?
