In early 2023, D&D creator Wizards of the Coast sent an
entire industry reeling with their proposed revocation of a decades old open
license system. One of the most affected was The Arcane
Library, who had been preparing to launch a new game system
under that license. The game's creator, Kelsey Dionne, was
undeterred. She worked with her legal team at Michael Best to
weather the storm and launch the Shadowdark RPG, complete with an
innovative and open third-party license.
The game launched with a successful $1.3M Kickstarter campaign and,
thanks to its open license, spawned a thriving community of
third-party products for the game. Shadowdark's popularity has
only grown since then. Recently, Kelsey's old school and open
approach was vindicated at this year's "Ennie Awards." The Ennies are the tabletop
gaming industry's equivalent of the Oscars. Shadowdark and the
Arcane Library took home four gold Ennies, including the
prestigious "Product of the Year" award.
A panel of experts gave the old-school-inspired RPG three other gold medals as well, including Best Game, Best Layout and Design, and even Best Rules. That gives creator Kelsey Dionne and her team at The Arcane Library about as clean a sweep you can get in Gen Con's biggest awards program.
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