“There’s no such thing as bad publicity” is often associated with Phineas T. Barnum, but its origins are unknown. Evil Genius is currently living it.
Evil Genius Games is the new tabletop games publisher behind Everyday Heroes, the modern-era 5e mashup that powers the official Kong: Skull Island, Pacific Rim, Escape from New York, Crow and Highlander adventure games.
A Rebel Moon TTRPG was on the way, too. A rejected Star Wars script, Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon, was picked up by Netflix, and the tabletop game was no secret.
On The Nerd Queens, Zack Snyder talked about it.
Evil Genius Games are now suing Netflix after the streaming giant cancelled the project. According to Evil Genius, Netflix cancelled because the tabletop publisher violated confidentially provisions. That they didn’t keep secrets, secret.
We don’t know why Netflix cancelled the deal; they haven’t yet responded to media requests, but that’s not uncommon once things go legal.
Evil Genius says Netflix is upset that art was shared at the GAMA Expo. Art was shared there, but Evil Genius says they had approval from Netflix for this. They say they have the documents to prove this.
Furthermore, Evil Genius say that the presentation about the Rebel Moon RPG was a joint one with Netflix staff taking part.
Rebel Moon is due in December; Evil Genius says they prioritised the project to fit Netflix’s timetable and sacrificed other opportunities.
It’s easy to see why Evil Genius are annoyed and is taking the risk of stirring up media attention for the lawsuit. They’ve invested money, and now publicity might be the only way forward. However, Netflix’s lawyers are likely to be fierce, and the contract surely contained multiple break clauses.
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