OGL 1.1 Leak - What Is This All About?

As many of you know, WotC has had its new "open" game license leaked. This OGL is (by all the evidence we currently have at our disposal) not at all open. WotC was set to release this new OGL on 1/4/2023, but after a great deal of public backlash, they delayed the release. Their continued silence has done little to resolve the concerns regarding the new OGL...

What Does The New OGL Do?

The new OGL does a few things that are extremely problematic for any creator in the 3rd party content space:

-The new OGL is set to remove the original OGL, forcing all creators to use the new version. The old OGL will become "unauthorized;" meaning that, without agreeing to new terms, products like ours can no longer be made.

-The new OGL gives WotC the right to take ANY content created under the new OGL and use it as its own, without giving any accreditation or compensation to the creator. This is a big issue for us, since we have always strived to create awesome content, and having it essentially stolen is... awful.

-All creators must report all products and earnings to WotC. This puts pressure especially on small creators that do not have finance teams and sell products over a wide range of platforms.

-VTT's are no longer covered by the new OGL.

-Creators making over $750,000 gross per year will owe 25% of all earnings to WotC. While this seems like it doesn't affect the little guys, it does make running Kickstarters (where profit margins are usually 10-15%) almost impossible to make money from. On a personal note, we had planned on launching a Kickstarter to convert the Critical Crafting content you all love so much into several books, but the new OGL presents some issues that may make this dream impossible.

-WotC can change this license at any time, so long as they give 30 days notice; meaning, the license cannot be relied upon for any period of time by those using it to create content.

-Rumors suggest that all creators will have to format anything that comes from the OGL differently than the rest of their content, citing the OGL as one would in a research paper. While unconfirmed, this would create an almost illegible product that would result in a ridiculous amount of additional hours of work. We are a small team, and this would likely result in us having to cut back on our content if not burying us in formatting work completely.

What Does This Mean For The Game?

There is a very real concern that limiting the ability of other creators to use the open game license as it was originally intended (to create content to help grow the industry) will strangle the game, create splintering of the fanbase, and ultimately lead to a worse experience for everyone). This seems like another “4e” situation, in which 3rd party creators are forced to a new system, and Dungeons and Dragons exits its recent golden age and enters a decline.

OK, But It's Wotc's IP Right? They Can Change What They Want.

This is true. Many people have made a living building on WotC's open game license rules, and some have argued that WotC should be able to take a percentage of the profit from these creators, since they are using WatC 's content. However, WotC set a precedent over the past 20 years by making the license open and free, allowing an entire industry and thousands of careers to be built using it; not to mention leading to a huge increase in their own player base because of third-party creators. The new license seems to fly in the face of the spirit of an open game license and to pull the rug out from under the people that relied on the initial OGL to make a living.

What Is Critical Crafting Going to Do?

To be honest, we don’t know yet.

We really can’t make a decision while so much is still undecided and that WotC has not released the official document. Everything seems to indicate that if the 1.1 progresses as the leaked document says it will, we will be forced to report to WotC, which will make creating content very difficult. Also, our future plans and dreams for Kickstarters and physical books will almost surely not happen, dashing our hopes of putting a physical product in your deserving hands. If we want to continue making content, we will have to accept that WotC can steal it at any time.

We sincerely hope WotC is paying attention to the community and that this leak will result in them leaving the 1.0 OGL license alone, so we can continue making content for all of you--our amazing supporters. All of the rumors and speculation that we have heard from sources very close to WotC suggest that the rumored changes to the OGL are true and that WotC's refusal to comment or release additional information after their planned release on 1/4/2023 seems to support that all is not well with the new OGL.

What Can Our Community Do About It?

For now, what can we all do? A big step would be to let WotC know that you don’t want your favorite 3rd party publishers (like Kobold Press, Foundry VTT, Hit Point Press, and smaller creators like Critical Crafting along with thousands of other small content creators) to go out of business or suffer because of their new license. Share information with others online and spread the word. Make your voices heard. Check out #opendnd and other petitions and rallying cries for 3rd party support. 

Hopefully, as a community, we can stop this from happening and save the game, community, products, and D&D spirit that we all adore.

Critical Crafting is trying to figure this out just like everyone else. We don't have many answers yet, but we wanted to be open and share what information we did have. Please try and get informed using other research as you can, and make your voices heard by directly contacting WotC. Or joining other petitions and hashtags.

In these uncertain times, we truly value and thank you for your continued support as we all navigate this situation together.

-Dillon and the Critical Crafting Crew