Dungeons & Dragons fans expressed scorn for a list of 2023's "Most Ethical Companies" that included Wizards of the Coast's (WoTC) parent company, Hasbro, despite the recent Open Gaming License (OGL) controversy.
Redditors responded to an article from Wargamer detailing a recent list by Ethisphere naming the companies that "positively impact employees, communities, and broader stakeholders" in 2023. Along with dozens of businesses such as Apple, Pfizer, FedEx and Best Buy, the website awarded Hasbro with honors for the twelfth time. DnD fans took issue with the inclusion, particularly due to the recent OGL controversy, where an early version of the rewritten license would have placed severe restrictions on third-party creators.
Wizards parent company Hasbro named one of 2023's 'most ethical' businesses
WotC Angers Fans With Dungeons & Dragons OGL Controversy
In early January, a leaked copy of an updated OGL for Dungeons & Dragons caused a massive outcry among the community. Besides placing severe restrictions on the types of content third-party creators could manufacture and sell for DnD 5E, it also implemented a heavy royalty. Additionally, it seemingly opened the door to Wizards claiming the rights to make merch based on third-party designs to sell as its own without owing royalties to creators.
The OGL led to massive protests online, with several terms relating to Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast trending for weeks. Shortly after the leak emerged, fans started the #OpenOGL movement with an open letter to Wizards and Hasbro demanding the company walk back its proposed changes to the enduring OGL, which had allowed DnD to grow as it has done over the last two decades.
"Nothing about this new license is "open," the letter argued. "It chokes the vibrant community that has flourished under the original license. No matter the creator, it locks everyone into a new contract that restricts their work, makes it mandatory to report their projects and revenues to Wizards of the Coast, and gives WotC the legal right to reproduce and resell creators' content without permission or compensation."
Critical Role, Pathfinder and Respond to the OGL Changes
Prominent third-party creators from the Dungeons & Dragons community spoke up about the controversy to varying degrees. Critical Role, the most popular actual play series for DnD around, released a carefully worded statement expressing its support for all third-party creators to have freedom in their businesses. Some small publishers, such as Pathfinder and Kobald Press, announced intentions to break away from Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast with new OGLs.
By the end of January, Wizards of the Coast announced it had canceled its deauthorization of the DnD OGL, instead adding new protections to it with a Creative Commons license. Dungeons & Dragons Executive Producer Kyle Brink insisted that the company had only wanted to protect the game with its new OGL. "We wanted to limit the OGL to TTRPGs," he said in a blog post accompanying the announcement. "With this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play."
Source: Reddit; Ethisphere, via Wargamer