Game System License
License for third-party 4th edition D&D compatibility.
The Game System License is a license that allows third-party publishers to create products compatible with and using the intellectual property from the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast released it to the public on June 17, 2008. It grants use of the 4th Edition System Reference Document, which lists trademarks, words, and short phrases that could be used to refer to materials in the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition rules, but contains no rules itself.
Quick Facts
- Released
- June 17, 2008
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Edition covered
- 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons
- License type
- Game System License (GSL)
- Related document
- 4th Edition System Reference Document
Facts from the source article.
History
The Game System License, or GSL, was created for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It allows use of the 4th Edition System Reference Document, which contains only trademarks, words, and short phrases from the rules, not the rules themselves. Publishers who accept the license must place a provided logo on their products to show compatibility with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. Wizards of the Coast can update the license at any time, and those updates apply to everyone who has agreed to it. If a legal dispute arises, licensees are required to cover Wizards of the Coast's legal costs. This was a different approach from the earlier 3rd edition, where a System Reference Document was released under the Open Game License, a copyright license that lets others use copyrighted text. At that same time, the d20 System Trademark License allowed third-party publishers to use a logo for compatibility without using the D&D trademark. Before Gen Con 2008, Wizards of the Coast announced a revision to the GSL in response to concerns from publishers and the community. Shortly after the convention, several jobs were cut at the company, including the Licensing Manager position held by Linae Foster. When the 5th edition of D&D launched in 2014, its System Reference Document was released under the Open Game License, and the GSL fell out of use. However, it remains the only official license for 4th edition content.
Reception
The Game System License (GSL) for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition generated a deeply divided response from third-party publishers when it launched in 2008. ICv2 reported that while Mongoose Publishing and Goodman Games chose to produce material under the new license, companies like Green Ronin and Necromancer Games refused. Necromancer co-founder Clark Peterson called the GSL an unmitigated disaster and announced his company would stop supporting the new edition. Green Ronin’s Chris Pramas said the license did not make third-party publishers feel like valued partners. Fred Hicks of One Bad Egg described his first reaction as crushing disappointment, specifically pointing to the poison pill clauses as particularly troubling. Despite this, One Bad Egg decided to fill the vacuum created by other publishers abandoning the edition and would produce GSL-licensed content. To shield Evil Hat Productions from the poison pill risks, One Bad Egg was set up as a separate legal entity. Andy Collins, a D&D designer who became Design & Development Manager around 4th Edition’s release, recalled arguing strongly to keep something like the Open Game License (OGL) from 3rd Edition—an open license with core rules and basic usage guidelines. He warned that without some form of OGL, Wizards risked alienating customers who saw open licensing as an assumed part of D&D. Looking back, Collins wondered if it would have been better to simply let the OGL die rather than pressure the company into creating what he called a Frankenstein’s monster of an open license that ended up pleasing almost no one. Mordicai Knode of Tor.com wrote in 2012 that the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, which used the older OGL, became a central rallying point in the edition wars. Knode observed that while Paizo did not take sides, the company provided a convenient banner for those dissatisfied with Fourth Edition to gather under. The GSL, as the third-party publishing agreement for that edition, only made matters worse.
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