The "updated" OGL very obviously looks like it is specifically targeting Paizo/Pathfinder as a competitor to WotC/D&D. Gawd, WotC are a bunch of giant a--holes. I hope all across the gaming industry people start blacklisting WotC and refuse to have anything to do with them.
Does it actually work like this? Like, Paizo has been publishing Pathfinder for over a decade now, and even has an entire new edition. And they *already* created Pathfinder's base rules (the part that is based on D&D via OGL), so won't any new content (new subclasses, weapons, feats, etc) they make for Pathfinder 2e be entirely new, non copyright-infringing material?
And/or would Paizo no longer be able to even sell the Pathfinder 2e source books, because some of that material is (might be judged) reliant on the OGL?
All good questions. Paizo has refused to publicly comment thus far to all the gaming publications that have asked them for comment. But a former WotC high level exec has said on social media that in his opinion as a lawyer WotC has gone too far here and will likely lose any legal challenge. In his view, WotC can create new rules for their license going forward, but cannot unilaterally and retroactively take away the OGL 1.0 license from anyone who's been using it for years to create their own content. I'm guessing Paizo is currently having a bunch of lawyers going over these very issues before they will comment.
But regardless, just the very act of WotC trying to do these things makes them huge a--holes. In fact, in their own public statements they acknowledge that they could potentially have a PR problem from all of this. So they know what they're doing is wrong. But they're looking for a way to get away with it.
And btw, since Bloomberg broke the story about the game cancellations, Hidden Path has officially stated they have not received any word from WotC and so they consider their game still going forward. So the Bloomberg reporter went back to WotC and asked again, and the WotC spokesperson again said to Bloomberg the Hidden Path and OtherSide games are among those cancelled. So at a minimum, WotC cancelled these games but didn't even bother to tell those studios about it first, and made it so they learn about it from the press. I hope the entire gaming industry will now blacklist WotC/Hasbro from all future ventures.
