After the leak of Wizards of the Coast's OGL 1.1, fans have canceled their D&D Beyond subscriptions in droves, to such a degree that a response from the company was inevitable. It's clear the uproar among the fans has been heard and so Wizards of the Coast has made an announcement in which it addresses the controversies and makes changes to the original concept.
On January 4th broke the news that Wizards of the Coast's new Open Game License 1.1 has leaked and contained updates that players were less than happy about. Among its content were such new parameters where Wizards of the Coast could modify or terminate an agreement with a creator operating under OGL 1.1 at any time, provided they give 30 days' notice. It also contained that while a creator operating under OGL 1.1 owns their product, Wizards of the Coast also has full rights to it and will be able to use it and sell it however it sees fit without any possible legal recourse against it.
After the considerable backlash Wizards of the Coast has released an update to the OGL on D&D Beyond in which it addresses many of the points fans had issues with. The statement starts with reiterating the original goal of the OGL revision and clarifying that it would affect content created for TTRPGs and by individuals and not major corporations. Then it continues, listing two points as the driving principles for the revision, that being Wizards of the Coast looking after the legacy of the game but also wanting the OGL to be beneficial for the fans. An explanation follows, saying the draft of the OGL 1.1 was sent out to publishers and content creators for feedback, meaning the leak was not the final revision of the document. However, despite the explanation of the circumstances, Wizards of the Coast admits that the document has not been a success.
The update then follows by explaining the most contentious parts of the OGL 1.1 and attempts to give a clear overview of what will and will not be included in the final version. Wizards of the Coast will scrap the royalty structure, and will not have a license back revision, claiming people falsely assumed it would allow the company to steal the work of fans. The promise was made that the language in the final OGL revision will be "crystal clear" when it comes to the fans owning their creations entirely. Then an explanation follows that due to the backlash the new OGL will not be released today and the exact release date cannot be speculated on at this time.
The events that have unfolded can be viewed in a cynical light, seeing a company which wished to gain more income from its properties through fan creations and in its desire overreached, earning the ire of the very people it lives off of. It'll be certainly interesting to see how happy the D&D community will be with the final version of OGL 1.1.
Source: D&D Beyond
