If you are a user of online role-playing platformsWhether it's playing Dungeons and Dragons, related systems like Pathfinder, Old School, or any other RPG that resembles classic RPG, it's possible that your platform could be compromised. This is due to the new Open Gaming License that Hasbro and Wizard of the Coast hope to implement.
Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast and, by extension, D&D; and at a recent shareholders call, a Hasbro executive described D&D as “under-montized» and that they would be looking for additional ways to generate income from the game. In the 3rd and 5th edition of the game, the Open Gaming License was created for allow third parties to produce D&D-compatible content as long as they did not use WotC's copyright. They could create modules and programs without saying "for Dungeons and Dragons» but they could say «Compatible with the world's most popular fantasy RPG«.
How your online role-playing program could be jeopardized if Wizard of the Coast approves OGL 1.1
There is an upcoming revision of the D&D rules called One D&D, which hopes to be a service that unifies all the rules and modules, alongside the DnDBeyond service. One D&D published an alleged first draft of the new OGL that showed updates in its terms and conditions.
One major change is that, while royalties were previously not required for third-party content, with OGL 1.1, any product that generates $750.000 or more in sales would be subject to a 25% royalty. There would also be a clause with retroactive effect and any property that was created using material covered by the OGL could be used by Hasbro without compensation. That would include Star Wars content owned by Disney or even Pathfinder. It would also include virtual boards, that is, online platforms for remote role-playing with a group, which we already covered in an article.
That being said, the OGL 1.1 license could end up asking the many online role-playing platforms that survive on donations and are not part of the Wizards of the Coast conglomerate for money they cannot afford. It does not mean that they will disappear, but they will have to be maintained with limited donations so as not to have to exceed the royalty threshold. And this affects you if you play role-playing online, although it is not Dragons and Dungeons, because almost all online services need to be compatible with D&D as it is the largest franchise in the sector, and many players play that system because it is the most popular.
