Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon Lands Netflix In Hot Water For An Unexpected Reason
As Zack Snyder prepares for the release of his brand new "Rebel Moon" science fiction universe on Netflix, the first installment of which drops in December, the streaming platform finds itself the defendant in a lawsuit filed by a games company over the IP. Per Variety, the company, Evil Genius Games, claims it was working on a "Dungeons and Dragons"-style tabletop roleplaying game based on the new franchise, but that Netflix canceled its deal for the game on the basis of an alleged contract violation.
According to the plaintiffs in the suit, Evil Genius had paid out to Netflix for a license to manufacture the game, which was to be released around the same time as the films themselves. But on May 25, 2023, Netflix terminated that agreement. Snyder, who is not involved in either side of the suit, had previously shown excitement about the game, saying on a March 2023 episode of The Nerd Queens podcast, "The one thing that I'm really having a really good time with is — and I don't even know if I'm supposed to talk about it — this RPG that we're doing that is just literally insane and so immersive and so intense and so huge."
A games company claims Netflix backpedaled on a deal for Rebel Moon TTRPG
The lawsuit filed against Netflix by Evil Genius Games alleges that the streamer cited the violation of a confidentiality clause in the contract between the two parties as a pretense for cutting off the tabletop game deal. According to Netflix, the artwork the games company showed off at an industry trade show was in breach of confidentiality. Evil Genius believes it is owed monetary damages, claiming it stopped working on other projects to complete the "Rebel Moon" game. The company also claims that, two weeks after the agreement was terminated by Netflix, the streamer claimed sole ownership of all work Evil Genius had already done on the game.
The tabletop "Rebel Moon" game Evil Genius was working on is not to be confused with the action video game produced by Super Evil Megacorp, which is also based on the Snyder franchise and will be available to Netflix subscribers as part of the streamer's push to expand into gaming.