Real Women of Gaming

2023 has been a wild year for the entertainment industry, especially Hollywood. There have been multiple strikes and protests for things ranging from wanting better wages to AI protections, about which I’ve written a couple of articles for RWOG previously. When I started writing this article, we were waiting on the vote for the new SAG-AFTRA theatrical contract; they have since voted yes. There are differing opinions on the AI provisions. You can read more about the contracts on the SAG-AFTRA website. We are still waiting on information on the video game contract for SAG-AFTRA, and now that the theatrical contract is done we will probably see more progress on the former. This has definitely been a year in which I’ve seen my industry come together like no other to fight the studios and large streamers. Hell, even the government is getting in on the action. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) has called for an investigation into Warner Bros over their shelving of Coyote v Acme, not the first fully finished film that has been shelved within the last couple of years at the company.

Let’s go on a little journey together. Imagine you own a small gaming company that is relatively successful within a specific niche. Now, pretend that you get wind of a project that a big named director and a big studio, or streaming company, is looking to branch into that happens to be in your area of expertise. And finally, I want you to imagine you actually achieve your goal and working with said director and studio to not only create this world but also characters within it. The company uses this content you created for their other projects within the world you helped build, only to take it away, use your work as their own and not even compensate you for the work you did by claiming you breached your contract? After the year we’ve had with big studios and streamers like Netflix, it’s really not that hard to imagine this scenario. Let’s take a look into a specific lawsuit that involves this set of facts, EVIL GENIUS GAMES, INC v NETFLIX CPX, LLC.

Let’s learn a bit more about Evil Genius Games (EGG). EGG is a table top role-playing game (TTRPG) company. They use the “open-source version of the Dungeons and Dragons 5^th edition rule-set,” according to their website, creating TTRPGs based off of cinematic universes. For example, their core rule-book “Everyday Heroes” is a re-imagining of D&D in an action movie setting. EGG is helping expand TTRPGs into a modern-day settings for old and new audiences to enjoy. They even have adventures set in the Rambo and Total Recall universes. It gives a modern twist to a classic and well loved game style. Dungeons & Dragons is considered the first commercially available table top role-playing game, published in 1974 by TSR Inc. D&D is now owned and run by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). Last year they changed the rules to their Online Gaming License (OGL), which is what allows gaming companies like EGG to create their games. The community backlash to this change was so bad that WotC went back to the original structure of the OGL due to the outcry. On September 28, 2023 EGG filed a lawsuit against Netflix “for wrongfully terminating Evil Genius’ contract to create a table-top role-playing game for the widely anticipated Rebel Moon film franchise by Zack Snyder. Snyder is not named in the lawsuit. You can find a copy of their press release on their website.

I couldn’t get any responses from Netflix nor could I find any articles in which Netflix has responded. What I did find in my research is the fact that Netflix is involved in multiple lawsuits. There seem to be several accusing them of copyright infringement, not fulfilling contractual obligations, and even one in which Netflix originated the lawsuit but was counter-sued. Squid Game was the subject of that particular lawsuit. The company that counter-sued was SK Broadband: the largest internet provider in South Korea and responsible for the creation of the show. This legal dispute lasted for three years resulting in the two companies settling the lawsuit. They are now working out a contract for a partnership to bring more Korean content to the platform. Netflix is responsible for introducing the South Korean platform to a wider audience. Squid Game was the most watched show on Netflix when it came out.

As you can see EGG is not the first to go up against the streaming giant. They are, however, a much smaller company than SK Broadband; therefore, do not have the deep pockets or resources to keep a lawsuit going for long. The lawsuits seem to favor Netflix, which is not surprising since the streaming giant raked in $31.6 billion, yes with a B. They can afford the legal fees to handle all their litigation woes.

I reached out to Evil Genius Games to ask them a few questions about their lawsuit and had a pleasant correspondence with their CEO David Scott:

Phoenix: How do you think this will affect you moving forward and partnering with other companies and franchises?

David Scott: We have strong partnerships in the licensing realm and are certainly hopeful that this will not impact the core business, however this situation certainly has caused us very substantial damage.

P: Do you plan on releasing the game if you win the case?

D: If we prevail, we would love to release this game in one shape or form so that all of the fans who are eagerly waiting for it can see how excellent it is.

P: Do you think the industry wide strikes (WGA then SAG-AFTRA) may have had something to do with Netflix wanting out of the contract?

D: I don’t know if the strikes had anything to do with it, but I do feel that the issues are similar. What we’re seeing is a billion-dollar business that is unwilling to compensate or treat fairly, its creator community. I feel like this could have been resolved if they were willing. But like the strikes, Netflix appears to only want to resolve issues after they reach a boiling point.

P: On page 9 paragraph 32 of the lawsuit it says: “Netflix even conceded that it “probably could have looked past” the incident were it not for certain individuals disliking Mr. Scott’s tone and response to Netflix’s concerns over confidentiality” and that they “lost trust” in him. Do you think they responded this way because Mr. Scott is a black man?

D: Not liking a black man’s tone is definitely a dog whistle to racism, but racism can be so subtle these days it’s often hard to prove it. But I do wonder if my tone would have been more “tolerated” if it came from someone else.

P: How many projects did you shelve to work on “Rebel Moon”?

D: We put 6 out of our 8 Cinematic Adventures on pause to work on this project. We also spent considerable money to hire the right talent for this project as well. We definitely sacrificed a lot.

P: Do you have an idea of how much money shelving these projects cost you?

D: What I can say is that, because of the positive alignment with the Zack Snyder fan base and the retail placement we were expecting, we lost millions of dollars of revenue from not being able to release the game. We expected it to be our biggest seller this year.

P: Do you think you’ll ever work with Snyder or Netflix again after this experience?

D: We would be honored to work with Snyder again. While difficult, we are trying to keep this in our minds as a business dispute, rather than a personal one. So never say never.

P: Why is Snyder not named in this lawsuit since it’s under the Snyderverse? Will he possibly be one of the John Does?

D: All I will say is that up to a few days before the cancellation Zack and his team were singing our praises about the work we had been doing and we truly enjoyed working with him. My lawyers have instructed me not to answer any questions about legal strategy.

P: How much will your future profits be affected in the industry because of this lawsuit?

D: We have strong partnerships in the licensing realm and are certainly hopeful that this will not impact the core business, however this situation has without a doubt caused us very substantial damage.

I tried to reach out to Netflix and Zack Snyder’s teams; I was unable to achieve a response from either. Rebel Moon pt 1 is still slated to come out this month. Thank you EGG for responding to my questions. I personally hope this literal David can take down the digital Goliath that is Netflix because I think they have a solid case against the company. Good luck.

*Edit: This article was written Dec 15, 2023 and published Jan 24, 2024, shortly after publishing there was a joint statement sent out by both EGG’s CEO David Scott and Zack Snyder noting there will be no release and the “project has been shelved”. We looked into the settlement terms between Netflix and EGG but where unable to find anything more than the statement gave us. We hope our friends over at EGG are happy and we’re glad they did not have to deal with a long arduous legal process. Rebel Moon Part One was released on Netflix Dec 22, 2023 with Part Two scheduled for release April 19, 2024.