D&D Head Dan Ayoub Opens Up on the OGL: “Trust Takes a Long Time to Build and a Second to Break” – TGN

Three years after the OGL disaster, Wizards of the Coast continues to be working to win again the tabletop group — and the person operating D&D says he is aware of the clock is ticking.

Dan Ayoub, who took over as Head of Dungeons & Dragons in 2025, spoke with Wargamer’s Mollie Russell concerning the fallout from the OGL, the teachings discovered since, and the brand new course he’s steering the model towards.

A Candid Admission

Ayoub didn’t dance across the topic when requested the place Wizards went mistaken with the OGL. He mentioned the corporate overpassed who D&D really belongs to.

“It was a rug pull, proper?” Ayoub instructed Wargamer. “Lots of people and companies have been constructed up round a selected factor. Belief was given to the model, and folks rightly felt the rug was pulled from underneath them.”

He additionally pointed to a broader mistake: assuming there’s a one-size-fits-all method to play D&D. Ayoub mentioned his job isn’t to inform gamers learn how to run their video games — it’s to offer them the instruments to do it their means.

Rebuilding Belief Gained’t Be Fast

Ayoub describes his first 12 months in cost as a mixture of rewarding and terrifying, and he’s underneath no illusions about how lengthy it takes to restore broken belief.

“My greatest takeaway as I step into this function is that belief takes a very long time to construct and a second to interrupt,” he mentioned. “I’m keenly conscious it’s going to take me a very long time to restore this.”

If he deserves credit score for one factor to this point, he says it’s listening. Wizards established a group council, and Ayoub has personally frolicked speaking with followers, retailers, and shoppers.

The Fallout Reshaped Every thing

The OGL controversy didn’t keep contained to Wizards — it despatched ripples by way of your complete trade, from Inventive Commons releases to Pathfinder transferring away from OGL-based guidelines. Ayoub in contrast it to a cataclysmic occasion from D&D’s personal lore.

“I’m an enormous Dragonlance fan, and it was sort of like when the mountain dropped and reshaped the geography,” he mentioned. “It essentially modified the ecosystem and every part about it.”

Moving into the function afterward wasn’t simple. Ayoub referred to as it “fucking terrifying,” admitting he was nervous about damaging one thing he’s liked his entire life. However that love is strictly why he took the job — he needs to get D&D again to how he remembers it.

Bringing Exterior Voices Again In

A serious a part of the brand new course is collaboration. Wizards has been reaching out to basic creators like Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Bob Salvatore, and Luke Gygax, together with companions like Ghostfire Gaming, which is taking up Ravenloft. Ayoub mentioned he doesn’t need Wizards to be the one voice for D&D.

“The voice of D&D was solely coming from one place, however that’s not how D&D grows,” he mentioned. “I need to deliver extra folks in to inform extra tales.”

He famous the irony of all of it, given D&D’s most well-known recommendation: “The basic mantra is don’t break up the celebration, and we went forward and break up the celebration.”

The Neighborhood Group Is Already Making a Distinction

The D&D Neighborhood Advisory Group, launched in June, has been giving Wizards direct — and blunt — suggestions. Ayoub mentioned one early observe modified how the corporate operates: members instructed him Wizards was doing cool issues however doing a horrible job telling folks about them. That led on to publicizing the roadmap.

The group has even scrapped product concepts earlier than they reached gamers. Ayoub values having individuals who’ll inform him when one thing isn’t working.

Trying Forward

Ayoub says he’s by no means going to cease listening, and he’s holding himself to the guarantees he made when he took the function. He’s additionally considering long-term — somebody will ultimately sit in his chair and rejoice D&D’s one centesimal anniversary, and that solely occurs if the sport retains rising.

The complete interview, which additionally covers D&D’s franchise mannequin, the Netflix and HBO tasks, and the way Ayoub is opening doorways for brand spanking new designers, is obtainable at Wargamer.