Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro flooped around and found out. As we discussed earlier this month, the stewards of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game have been under intense fire from fans and third-party content creators after a leak showing that the companies planned to nullify their open game license (OGL) – a license that has let people create and monetize new systems and content for the TTRPG for nearly 20 years – and release an updated OGL that was highly combative and extortionist from the perspective of the third-party creative community.
Now, after weeks of pushback, adjustments, and apologies that reeked of corporate stank, the OGL for the current edition of D&D will remain unmolested and will even be protected under a Creative Commons license.
While the debacle wasn’t directly impacting any MMOs (as the D&D MMOs both involve different licensing agreements), the update is offering third-party publishers and TTRPG creators a sigh of relief. That includes Star Anvil Studios, the maker of the upcoming Secret World TTRPG. “This should alleviate any issues,” the developer’s Twitter account wrote. Relief was also shared among Discord members, though many are suggesting that fans should remain vigilant should WotC and Hasbro try to pull another round of shenanigans.
As for the TSW rulebook, it’s full steam ahead as final editing and artwork is completed. The work that remains involves getting final approvals from Funcom and arranging the book’s layout, but it looks like the rulebook is very nearly ready to arrive to the hands of backers.
