As you may have heard, Wizards of the Coast is poised to release a new version of the Open Game License (v1.1). Parts of the license have been leaked online and it appears that Wizards' intent is to revoke the current version of the OGL, forcing creators to adopt the new version. Whether this is actually legal for them to do, under the terms of the license, is seemingly open to interpretation.
A huge number of games, including our own Old-School Essentials, are founded on the Open Game License. If that license were revoked, such games would be in jeopardy. The leaked version of the new OGL includes some extremely unappealing terms, most notably granting Wizards a "nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free license" to use content released under the OGL "for any purpose".
Needless to say, we are making various contingency plans in anticipation of the official release of the new OGL. Once the official release happens and we've had time to fully digest its implications, we will announce any possible alterations to our publication schedule.
39 comments
You have my support 100%!
Good luck. Wherever you go, I’ll follow and support you, you deserve no less, you’ve given us one of the best TTRPGs products in history.
Rooting for you guys!
Can you release Carcass Crawler volume 3 in pdf before the new OGL 1.1 happens, so we can get a chance to buy it before it’s not allowed anymore ?
Publish without the OGL! They can’t copyright the material in OSE anyway. Power to the Gnome!