Ongoing backlash over the Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast (WotC) changing its Open Gaming License (OGL) has fans boycotting the upcoming Honor Among Thieves movie.In early January 2023, a leaked report showed that WotC was planning to update its OGL conditions that have been in place since 2000. The decision could impose much stricter rules on the enormous community of third-party D&D content, as well as RPGs like Pathfinder, which legally use certain D&D mechanics under the original OGL agreement. It's been widely criticized by the larger community voices like Critical Role, and fans took to Twitter to say they'll be avoiding Honor Among Thieves until WotC walks back the new rules. Many have noted that they no longer want to support official D&D products, including the franchise's first live-action since 2012.
The original OGL was made to allow third-party groups to create products that are compatible with official D&D rules. It was less than 900 words and the language was intentionally broad, but the new "OGL 1.1" is much more complex and nearly ten times as long. Controversially, the new agreement seemed to completely invalidate the old agreement, putting third parties at risk unless they substantially change their business models, even though they'd been in good standing with WotC for years. OGL 1.1 also only allows for printed materials and PDFs (or similar formats) when the old agreement allowed for much more.
Wizards of the Coast Trying to Make Amends
In response, WotC put out a statement apologizing for its recent actions and silence regarding the new rules. The company says it will be reworking the OGL based on fan and third-party feedback, and stated that the new updates would not impact anything published under the original rules. Some fans were happy to see the company potentially pulling away from the new OGL's strictest aspects, but others want WotC to return to the original OGL completely before they resubscribe to D&D Beyond or watch the movie.
The Honor Among Thieves movie will be an original, more comedic D&D story set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, with no connection to the more serious, critically panned D&D movies from the 2000s. The movie stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Hugh Grant as a group of misfit adventurers who must stop a Red Wizard of Thay from unleashing a dangerous artifact.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves hits theaters on March 31.
Source: Twitter