Paizo has reached a new agreement with Archives of Nethys. This new agreement secures a more hopeful future for beloved web directory of all Pathfinder and Starfinder content and its relationship with the TTRPG publisher.
The New Pathfinder Archives of Nethys Agreement
In a recent blog post, Paizo CEO Jim Butler discusses the recent end of the company’s commercial license agreement with Archives of Nethys. This free web directory project is beloved by the Paizo community for its comprehensive knowledge of rules, lore, and mechanics for both Pathfinder and Starfinder. It is an essential resource for GMs and the reason why the phrase “the rules are free” has been adopted by the playerbase.
With the end of this license agreement, the people behind the archives were put into a difficult position. With the agreement terminated, the workers, all unpaid volunteers, wouldn’t get early access to upcoming books and supplements to ensure the archive’s content would stay current. Furthermore, it also meant the archive had to remove Paizo’s PRD (Pathfinder Reference Document) from the site.
Thankfully, Butler and Archives of Nethys’ owner, Blake Davis, have reached a new arrangement that should delight fans. The site will remain as the official rules archive for Pathfinder and Starfinder. The new arrangement is less formal, meaning reduced oversight by Paizo and no need for royalty payments. Volunteers will still get advance PDFs, just not nearly as early as they were before. Lastly, the archive will still host Pathfinder First Edition’s PRD for reference.
“The Archives of Nethys is a vital resource for the Paizo community, and we are ready to support the volunteer team through these changes,” said Jim Butler, Paizo’s CEO. “Open access to our games has always been a core tenet of Paizo and will remain so. We value the dedication of the Archives of Nethys volunteer team and are committed to supporting their work.”
“Thank you to the community for your amazing enthusiasm and support during this adjustment,” said Blake Davis, owner of the Archives of Nethys. “We hope that this agreement will allow the Archives of Nethys to continue supporting the Pathfinder and Starfinder communities for years to come.”
Given Paizo’s recent financial strife from the fallout of Diamond Comics, this new agreement of Archives of Nethys was a savvy positive win for both Paizo and their community. Given how dense the rules of their games are, and how prescriptive those rules are, ensuring a handy web directory is still working goes a long way.
