Wizards of the Coast, the publisher behind Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), will not ban NFTs and associated products from its platform. The move follows strong backlash from its tabletop gaming community. The announcement comes after weeks of contemplation as the entity sought to protect its intellectual property from being exploited by big business and third parties.
Earlier last month, Wizard of the Coast revealed it planned to edit its Open Game License (OGL) to address three key issues. Among them were those "attempting to use D&D in Web3, blockchain games, and NFTs." Thus, the entity sought to make it clear that OGL content was "limited to tabletop roleplaying content like campaigns, modules, and supplements."
Consequently, the move would have blocked creators from creating D&D-inspired NFTs. The announcement caused an uproar within the tabletop community as they felt the edit was unfair.
Dungeons & Dragons Surprised by Poll Results
Seeing how many individuals were against the move, D&D publishers decided to run a poll before implementing the update.
As they would find out, about 86% of those that responded to the survey were "dissatisfied with the draft [virtual tabletop] policy," as it included language prohibiting derivative NFTs from third-party creators.
https://twitter.com/DnDBeyond/status/1619064403466326027In a blog post, the company wrote, "We wanted to limit the OGL to [tabletop role-playing games]." They go on to add that "with this new approach, we are setting that aside and counting on your choices to define the future of play."
But the overwhelming support for the Creative Commons license, which frees content for any use, left them no choice.
Thus, the entity had no option but to abandon its planned update of the Open Game License. Now moving forward, the company plans to place D&D content in its System Reference Document under a Creative Commons license that is "open and irrevocable."
