D&D BREAKING – WotC Will Leave The OGL 1.0a Untouched

WotC announced they will no longer deauthorize the OGL 1.0a and have moved to put even more 5th Edition rules under Creative Commons.

In response to overwhelming community feedback, Wizards of the Coast has announced several changes to their plans for a new OGL and 5E rules under Creative Commons. Chief among the changes, WotC will no longer pursue deauthorizing the OGL 1.0a, promising to leave it as is, untouched.

This response comes in the face of overwhelming community backlash over the past three weeks. The near-constant pressure in the form of open letters, petitions, and social media campaigns have finally seemed to make the billion-dollar company listen.

Wizards of the Coast To Leave OGL 1.0a Untouched

D&D Executive Producer Kyle Brink put out a statement on D&D Beyond,  addressing the overwhelming community response:

“When you give us playtest feedback, we take it seriously.

Already more than 15,000 of you have filled out the survey.”

According to Brink, the vast majority of respondents were dissatisfied with the OGL 1.2, with the WotC’s deauthorization of the OGL 1.0a and the VTT Policy issued along with the draft:

• 88% do not want to publish TTRPG content under OGL 1.2.
• 90% would have to change some aspect of their business to accommodate OGL 1.2.
• 89% are dissatisfied with deauthorizing OGL 1.0a.
• 86% are dissatisfied with the draft VTT policy.
• 62% are satisfied with including Systems Reference Document (SRD) content in Creative Commons, and the majority of those who were dissatisfied asked for more SRD content in Creative Commons.

In the face of those results, Brink states WotC will make the following changes to their plans immediately:

1. We are leaving OGL 1.0a in place, as is. Untouched.
2. We are also making the entire SRD 5.1 available under a Creative Commons license.
3. You choose which you prefer to use.

WotC has posted the 5.1 SRD under Creative Commons, hosted here for now.

This story is breaking, we will update you with more info as it develops.

Author: J.R. Zambrano

Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]