Dungeons & Dragons OGL Faces Backlash from Fans

Wizards of the Coast, which developed the game Dungeons and Dragons, is facing backlash due to their newly revised Open Gaming License. 

The Open Gaming License or OGL allows other properties to use the framework Dungeons and Dragons built for their own Table Top Role Playing Games. Their newly revised OGL 1.1 requires creators to report their projects and revenues to Wizards of the Coast. It also adds a new 25% tax on creator's sales made over $750,000 and gives Wizards of the Coast the legal right to reproduce or resell other's content without the creator's permission or compensation. 

While Wizards of the Coast has claimed that this won’t affect the player base, many long-time fans of Dungeons and Dragons disagree. Due to the financial restrictions, there will be fewer variations in titles on the market. Creators will only have the option of paying outrageous fees or ceasing production altogether. 

Through this seemingly small change, Wizards of the Coast could monopolize Table Top RPG’s whole market, alienating a good chunk of their player base. Especially those fans within the last decade or so who have been raised on podcasts and YouTube shows playing Dungeons and Dragons, such as Critical Role or The Adventure Zone, which have multiple spin-off products.

This comes right after Wizard of the Coast’s other controversy, with Magic: The Gathering’s 30th-anniversary card set being 60 randomized cards from the first run being priced at $999, leaving a greedy taste in most fans' mouths.