WotC Gale Force 9 Sues WotC [Updated]

In the second lawsuit against WotC in recent weeks (Dragonlance authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman sued the company for breach of contract and other things about a month ago), Gale Force 9 is suing the company for breach of contract and implied duty of good faith.

Gale Force 9 produces miniatures, cards, DM screens, and other D&D accessories. They’re asking for damages of nearly a million dollars, as well as an injunction to prevent WotC from terminating the licensing contract.

From the suit, it looks like WotC wanted to end a licensing agreement a year early. When GF9 didn't agree to that, WotC indicated that they would refuse to approve any new licensed products from GF9. It looks like the same sort of approach they took with Weis and Hickman, which also resulted in a lawsuit. The dispute appears to relate to some product translations in non-US markets. More information as I hear it!

UPDATE. GF9's CEO, Jean-Paul Brisigotti, spoke to ICv2 and said: "After twelve years of working with Wizards, we find ourselves in a difficult place having to utilize the legal system to try and resolve an issue we have spent the last six months trying to amicably handle between us without any success. We still hope this can be settled between us but the timeline for a legal resolution has meant we have been forced to go down this path at this time."

 

[tenkar]

One thing seems to be different, though. Per Tenkars Tavern linked above, Gale Force 9 included the license agreement in their case. Something that Weis & Hickman didn't do. I do see your point that WotC seems to use the same tactic. Which I admit find a bit disturbing.

Also, I find it strange. The license agreement of Gale Force 9 basically covers a lot of countries. Something apparently went wrong in two countries, and now all have to suffer?

I've yet to read the attachments in any detail, but in addition to the licensing agreement, there are also Dungeons & Dragons Localization Guidelines, Hasbro Global Business Ethics Principles, and a Merchandise Licensing Agreement dating as far back as 2005. Some of this is scanned, so a simple copy/paste isn't possible. I'll delve deeper into the documentation tomorrow.

 

[EthanSental]

And oddly enough, GF9 tweets today about new Strahd minis and maps and also posted to their shop site.....weird timing.

 

[pukunui]

And oddly enough, GF9 tweets today about new Strahd minis and maps and also posted to their shop site.....weird timing.

I guess WotC didn't decline to approve those.

 

[SiCK_Boy]

The impetus for suing is simple: WotC wants to cancel their agreements with GF9 for what GF9 deems to be fake reasons (the issues with the Korean and French translating companies). Furthermore, probably because they don’t see the relationship continuing, WotC has started using the same tactics they did with Weiss & Hickman in regards to the ongoing work with GF9 by refusing to approve new releases, without providing any reason or explanation. If GF9 loses their contract with WotC, they’ll become a seriously crippled company; suing WotC may be a negociating tactic, but again, assuming the basic facts outlined in the claims are true, it seems to be a pretty straightforward situation.

The real question is rather why would WotC go to that trouble with a partner they’ve had for more than 10 years? Are they just hoping to get a larger cut by making a deal with another company? Are they hoping to move translations in house and do the international distribution themselves? It seems like a weird behavior from WotC, and again based on the claim, it doesn’t sound like WotC were really open to any kind of solution or remedy put forward by GF9.

 

[The Glen]

The impetus for suing is simple: WotC wants to cancel their agreements with GF9 for what GF9 deems to be fake reasons (the issues with the Korean and French translating companies). Furthermore, probably because they don’t see the relationship continuing, WotC has started using the same tactics they did with Weiss & Hickman in regards to the ongoing work with GF9 by refusing to approve new releases, without providing any reason or explanation. If GF9 loses their contract with WotC, they’ll become a seriously crippled company; suing WotC may be a negociating tactic, but again, assuming the basic facts outlined in the claims are true, it seems to be a pretty straightforward situation.

The real question is rather why would WotC go to that trouble with a partner they’ve had for more than 10 years? Are they just hoping to get a larger cut by making a deal with another company? Are they hoping to move translations in house and do the international distribution themselves? It seems like a weird behavior from WotC, and again based on the claim, it doesn’t sound like WotC were really open to any kind of solution or remedy put forward by GF9.

There's a chance that they have run the numbers and figure the sales of the accessories would be more profitable if they did it in-house rather than through a 3rd party. If you make too much money using a game license, good chance they take the license back or jack up the price. One reason many game companies won't license. FFG with 40k for example or Decipher with Star Trek had those problems.

 

[Ace]

The impetus for suing is simple: WotC wants to cancel their agreements with GF9 for what GF9 deems to be fake reasons (the issues with the Korean and French translating companies). Furthermore, probably because they don’t see the relationship continuing, WotC has started using the same tactics they did with Weiss & Hickman in regards to the ongoing work with GF9 by refusing to approve new releases, without providing any reason or explanation. If GF9 loses their contract with WotC, they’ll become a seriously crippled company; suing WotC may be a negociating tactic, but again, assuming the basic facts outlined in the claims are true, it seems to be a pretty straightforward situation.

The real question is rather why would WotC go to that trouble with a partner they’ve had for more than 10 years? Are they just hoping to get a larger cut by making a deal with another company? Are they hoping to move translations in house and do the international distribution themselves? It seems like a weird behavior from WotC, and again based on the claim, it doesn’t sound like WotC were really open to any kind of solution or remedy put forward by GF9.

This is a bit off topic though the author in question did have one of his works Humanx Commonwealth made into a GURPS books so its kind of germane.

A lot of companies that were fine a few months ago seemed to have developed not so good corporate policies. Disney for example thinks If you buy a publisher you no longer have to pay royalties on the works you acquire! SFWA link here And note this is not some new author but the well renowned Alan Dean Foster.

I'm guessing that some larger companies have lost a lot of revenue during this lockdown and aren't sure they'll ever get it back. I know that Disney actually lost money last quarter for the first time in decades .

Given these are all publicly traded companies and the demands of shareholders are going through the roof do to population aging and the economic crisis caused by COVID , straws are being grasped maybe a bit too hard.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, I guess I need to get the rest of the monster cards ASAP.

 

[guachi]

I wouldn't be surprised if WOTC revenue was hammered by people not playing D&D like they used to. I certainly haven't. There have been several surveys asking customers how they play D&D during COVID.

 

[pukunui]

And oddly enough, GF9 tweets today about new Strahd minis and maps and also posted to their shop site.....weird timing.

Speaking of irony, I literally just received an email announcing the opening of a Battlefront store here in Auckland complete with a sale on GF9's D&D products. Might have to check it out.

 

[Retreater]

I wouldn't be surprised if WOTC revenue was hammered by people not playing D&D like they used to. I certainly haven't. There have been several surveys asking customers how they play D&D during COVID.

My friends and I (longtime customers of WotC and Paizo) have largely switched to OSR systems. We just need simplification, faster gameplay, less time spent in rulebooks and prepping adventures. More complex systems and intricate plots I would have tried in F2F games I'm ignoring to do more old school stuff, real back-to-basics gaming, when we're getting online to play a couple hours at a time (instead of 5-6 hour sessions), over Zoom calls with background distractions of screaming cats, children playing (or just put to bed), stressed out over everything going on in the world.