Evil Genius Games Sues Netflix Over 'Rebel Moon' Roleplaying Game

Evil Genius Games--creators of the d20 Modern-inspired Everyday Heroes RPG, with its licensed settings such as The Crow, KingL Skull Island, Pacific Rim, Highlander, and more--was all set to release a tabletop RPG based on Zack Snyder's upcoming movie Rebel Moon until the contract was cancelled by the streaming company over alleged confidentiality breaches. Evil Genius is suing Netflix for breach of contract.

Rebel Moon, which comes out later this year, is a space opera movie featuring a peaceful moon defending itself against tyrannical invaders.

The contract was cancelled back in May 2023, at which point Evil Genius had nearly completed the TTRPG design, with the Player's Guide and GM's Guide fully written and a 'world bible' for the setting created; the latter is an internal developer tool, which other franchises use also.

The termination is based on alleged confidentiality breaches. In addition, Netflix has asserted ownership of the world bible, which constitutes significant work undertaken by Evil Genius. The streaming company did offer to pay for that work--to the tune of $50,000--but Evil Genius did not accept that offer.

Snyder has also indicated that the contents of the world bible would be incorporated into future cinematic and video game properties.

Gizmodo spoke to Evil Genius and has more information. Additionally, Evil Genius has put up a web page about the situation.

I've since received an email from Evil Genius, and they have made a press release:

LOS ANGELES – (Sept. 28, 2023) – Evil Genius Games today sued Netflix for wrongfully terminating Evil Genius’ contract to create a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) for the widely anticipated Rebel Moon film franchise by Zack Snyder. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

Snyder, the acclaimed director of action and science fiction films, revealed in a podcast in March 2023 that a TTRPG based on Rebel Moon was in the works, lauding the work of Evil Genius’ team of creators.

Evil Genius began working with Netflix in early 2023 and signed an official agreement with Netflix on March 22, 2023, to develop the game and related materials, promising a delivery date to coincide with the film’s release on December 22, 2023. Evil Genius paid Netflix for a license, with an agreement to share profits.

Evil Genius stopped other projects to focus on the Rebel Moon TTRPG, the lawsuit states. By May, Evil Genius had produced a 228-page World Bible (which vastly expanded on the universe envisioned by Snyder), a 430-page Player’s Guide and a 337-page Game Master’s Guide. The initial script for Rebel Moon was “missing background information vital to the story as a whole and to the world,” the lawsuit states, with Evil Genius supplying “all the missing pieces” along with “a cohesive backstory for the entire Rebel Moon franchise.” According to the lawsuit, “the speed at which the project came to fruition astounded Netflix executives, and [Evil Genius] exceeded everyone’s expectations.”

Later that month, on May 25, Netflix suddenly terminated the agreement with Evil Genius, claiming the company had violated confidentiality provisions in its contract by sharing artwork at an industry trade show one month earlier. In the lawsuit, Evil Genius said the termination came as a surprise because it had sent the artwork to Netflix in advance of the event, the Game Manufacturers Association Exposition (GAMA), and Netflix had approved its use. Documents containing the artwork were handed out to retailers at GAMA by Evil Genius’ staff and two Netflix employees.

Two weeks later, Netflix notified Evil Genius that all of its work on the project “belongs solely and exclusively to Netflix,’’ the lawsuit states, with Netflix refusing to honor its agreement with Evil Genius to allow the release of the game and compensate the company for its work.

“It became clear’’ the lawsuit alleges, “that Netflix was simply using the alleged breach and termination to hijack [Evil Genius’] intellectual property and prevent [Evil Genius] from releasing the game.’’

David Scott, Evil Genius’ CEO said the decision to file a lawsuit was not made lightly.

“Our aim is to ensure our team is recognized for their fantastic work, and that we can release this game for millions of TTRPG enthusiasts to enjoy,’’ Scott said. “It’s disheartening to see Netflix backpedal on content that was jointly showcased and had received their prior consent. We urge our supporters to contact Netflix and Zack Snyder to push for the release of this game.’’

Evil Genius is encouraging supporters to visit Evil Genius Games, where they can sign a petition asking Netflix to acknowledge the creators of the Rebel Moon World Bible and allow Evil Genius to release the tabletop role-playing game.

 

[aramis erak]

Sympathies, my friend... This really sucks.

 

[R_Chance]

I don't know just how "minor" the violation of the NDA was, or how irritated Netflix had to be (and why) to cancel the contract. It definitely sucks for the creatives involved. As for a chance to steal work cheaply... if Netflix / Snyder wanted a world bible they could have chucked 50k at a freelancer and had one, so I doubt that was the reason for the cancellation. Peering in from the rather opaque outside of a lawsuit with minimal information is like looking over a battlefield in dense fog. Good luck. EG certainly is banking on the "little guy" bit for support and Netflix is certainly stuck with the greedy uncaring corporation trope. Time will tell how it is, and don't count on knowing what actually happened if they settle out of court

 

[Blue]

I assume that if this is about the setting bible, then that's exactly what Netflix would be worried about. That their lawyers didn't quite correctly outline what the work for hire agreement entailed and so there would be some question as to whether that work belonged to Netflix/Snyder or EG that would need to be litigated. As Snarf points out - without seeing the contract we can't know what it says.

Can you point out where this is a work fore hire? I know that Netflix saying they own everythign would be the result of a work for hire, but with EG paying to license it which is clear, I can't see that's Netflix hired them to work on it.

 

[Jer]

Can you point out where this is a work fore hire? I know that Netflix saying they own everythign would be the result of a work for hire, but with EG paying to license it which is clear, I can't see that's Netflix hired them to work on it.

You're right - I had it backwards. The way I read the story I thought that Netflix paid EG to create a TTRPG and was letting them have a stream of money in addition to the original outlay. But it's the other way around and a more traditional licensing arrangement - EG paid Netflix for the right to create and sell a TTRPG.

This only raises further questions as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Retreater]

I've been confused, reading "EGG" as "E. Gary Gygax."
I need to start drinking coffee again.

 

[Jer]

I've been confused, reading "EGG" as "E. Gary Gygax."
I need to start drinking coffee again.

THANK GOD I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE I THOUGHT I WAS LOSING IT

Ahem.

I mean, yeah. Me too.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

You're right - I had it backwards. The way I read the story I thought that Netflix paid EG to create a TTRPG and was letting them have a stream of money in addition to the original outlay. But it's the other way around and a more traditional licensing arrangement - EG paid Netflix for the right to create and sell a TTRPG.

This only raises further questions as far as I'm concerned.

Again, having the actual Agreement would be ... helpful. But Netflix has actually done licensing deals before, and I am ... doubtful ... that they are stupid.

Paragraph 17 of the Complaint briefly addresses this, and the excerpts show that this is a limited license. So, again without commenting on the legal merits, the World Bible is, apparently, not covered in the license, but it a "background" work.

But it will definitely be complicated, because the only rights that EG has are those allowed by the Agreement.

(All that said, this will likely settle. The only question, really, are the terms of the settlement.)

 

[teitan]

I wonder what Evil Genius uses for their world bible?

They wrote it and filled in gaps from the script.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Even if Netflix wins in the trials, it would be a serious damage to the prestige of the company.

Some times now there are in the top of megacorporations lots of "sharks", mercyless CEOs with a lot of astuteness to try ear more money thanks some dirty tricks, but without enough wisdow and good sense they can't realise in the end they are shooting in the foot, in lont terms causing serious damages to the company.

Even if the incomes thanks royalties were low, the licenced TTRPGs could help to promote those brands.

 

[Willie the Duck]

I thought ZS copy/pasted all the lore he had for Rebel Moon from Star Wars?

That's completely unfair.
There's also the Warhammer 40k bits.

Mind you, I haven't seen all of Snyder's work*, but my understanding of critiques against him was more along the lines that he is a hack who falls back on a handful of visual tropes and techniques in all his movies and often doesn't really understand the IPs or very concepts his work is covering/exploring, not that he borrows from others. Is this a thing he does?
*I believe I have seen (/+ response to each):
Dawn of the Dead -- high production value zombie movie
300 -- Horrible understanding of history; mildly imperfect understanding of Miller's comic series. Perfect understanding of what 13 year old boys want manliness to be about.
Watchmen -- visually interesting movie that wildly misunderstands the source material, but does tell an interesting tale about manipulating the masses.
Sucker Punch -- tale about women facing power structures from someone who seemingly understands neither.
Man of Steel -- About 20 years too late for "I'm going to deconstruct the superhero genre" to seem fresh. Can't say he doesn't understand the source material since he's clearly trying to subvert parts of it, but also can't say he was successful.
Suicide Squad -- Fine. Not good, but not horrible. Somehow made Captain Boomerang one of the more interesting characters (props to Jai Courtney on this one, as he and Will Smith seemed to be the only people putting their all into their roles). Shared the issue with most of DCEU in that the stakes/villain are uninspiring.
Snyder cut Justice League -- better than the Whedon cut (IRL issues aside, Whedon's canned snark-humor just doesn't mesh with this narrative). My high school English (so writing) teachers would all tell him that fitting your story concisely into the space your audience expects for your medium (short story vs novel, movie vs miniseries, etc.) is a skill and that if you need 242 minutes to tell your tale without killing your darlings (favorite lines or scenes), then you have failed to do your job as a writer.

Even if Netflix wins in the trials, it would be a serious damage to the prestige of the company.

Some times now there are in the top of megacorporations lots of "sharks", mercyless CEOs with a lot of astuteness to try ear more money thanks some dirty tricks, but without enough wisdow and good sense they can't realise in the end they are shooting in the foot, in lont terms causing serious damages to the company.

Even if the incomes thanks royalties were low, the licenced TTRPGs could help to promote those brands.

I mean, whose minds are going to be changed? Are there people out there that don't already think that Netflix is a toxic company that mistreats their customers, show-makers, and employees? Seems people have thought that for at least a decade and yet people still keep their subscriptions renewing (mostly).