Tuff Stuff's Gamer Winter 1997 - 13 - X-Files CCG, NXT Games & Donruss: Mention - Top of the Order, Red Zone
...NOW PLAY THE CCG!
game must be designed around the prop-
erty from which the license came. For
instance, Tolkien's Middle-earth, as seen
in The Lord of the Rings and other
works, offers "a vast collection of image-
ry," says Peter Fenlon, president of Iron
Crown Enterprises. His company pub-
lishes the "Middle-earth: The Wizards"
CCG, which features a multitude of Tol-
kien's characters, locations, and items.
Equally important to the game and its
design are Tolkien's themes. "Using
power to combat power, the quest for
knowledge vs. corruption, technology vs.
nature, all give us a deep conceptual
grounding, a natural framework [for
game design]," Fenlon says.
HOW LICENSES WORK
A license is a contract between two dif-
ferent companies. One, the licensor - the
film studio Lucasfilm Ltd., for example -
controls rights to a property - in Lucas-
film's case, the Star Wars universe. This
game must be designed around the prop-
erty from which the license came. For
instance, Tolkien's Middle-earth, as seen
in The Lord of the Rings and other
works, offers "a vast collection of image-
ry," says Peter Fenlon, president of Iron
Crown Enterprises. His company pub-
lishes the "Middle-earth: The Wizards"
CCG, which features a multitude of Tol-
kien's characters, locations, and items.
Equally important to the game and its
design are Tolkien's themes. "Using
power to combat power, the quest for
knowledge vs. corruption, technology vs.
nature, all give us a deep conceptual
grounding, a natural framework [for
game design]," Fenlon says.
HOW LICENSES WORK
A license is a contract between two dif-
ferent companies. One, the licensor - the
film studio Lucasfilm Ltd., for example -
controls rights to a property - in Lucas-
film's case, the Star Wars universe. This
company grants to the other, the licens-
ee, one or more specific rights to that
property as a license - say, to produce
and sell a card game using characters
and images from the Star Wars movies.
Sometimes the license runs for a speci-
fied length of time or covers a specific
territory, such as North America. The
licensee usually promises to give the
licensor a minimum cash payment plus a
royalty, a percentage of the revenues the
licensed product earns.
You don't need a license to translate a
property you already own into another
form. For instance, the card games
"Spellfire" and "Blood Wars" are unli-
censed because the publisher, TSR, owns
the RPG that inspired them, Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons. Also, games that
use properties in the public domain - say,
the Bible (Cactus Games' "Redemption")
or the legend of King Arthur (Stone
Ring's "Quest for the Grail") - need no
license. However, a game that uses some-
one else's specific interpretation of such
a work - the film Monty Python & the
Holy Grail, for example - needs a license.
ee, one or more specific rights to that
property as a license - say, to produce
and sell a card game using characters
and images from the Star Wars movies.
Sometimes the license runs for a speci-
fied length of time or covers a specific
territory, such as North America. The
licensee usually promises to give the
licensor a minimum cash payment plus a
royalty, a percentage of the revenues the
licensed product earns.
You don't need a license to translate a
property you already own into another
form. For instance, the card games
"Spellfire" and "Blood Wars" are unli-
censed because the publisher, TSR, owns
the RPG that inspired them, Advanced
Dungeons & Dragons. Also, games that
use properties in the public domain - say,
the Bible (Cactus Games' "Redemption")
or the legend of King Arthur (Stone
Ring's "Quest for the Grail") - need no
license. However, a game that uses some-
one else's specific interpretation of such
a work - the film Monty Python & the
Holy Grail, for example - needs a license.
Licenses allow specified, sharply limit-
ed rights. Few licensors grant a "gaming
license." More often, the license will cover
one specific type of game: a trading card
game, or a role-playing game and supple-
ments, or a children's board game. One
exception to this is the Tolkien gaming
license. Fourteen years ago, Tolkien Enter-
prises, which controls non-literary rights
to Tolkien's works, licensed Iron Crown to
publish any paper game based on The
Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. So, the
same license that let Iron Crown produce
an extensive line of Tolkien-based role-
playing materials also allowed the compa-
ny to create the "Middle-earth" CCG.
Licenses aren't "contagious" like dis-
eases. Just because Decipher has licensed
a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" card
game from Paramount Pictures and a
"Star Wars" game from Lucasfilm doesn't
mean that Paramount and Lucasfilm have
any relationship, nor can these two stu-
dios automatically use Decipher's other
properties. If Lucasfilm wanted to film
Decipher's How to Host a Murder party
games, it would negotiate that license
from square one - just like anyone else.
ed rights. Few licensors grant a "gaming
license." More often, the license will cover
one specific type of game: a trading card
game, or a role-playing game and supple-
ments, or a children's board game. One
exception to this is the Tolkien gaming
license. Fourteen years ago, Tolkien Enter-
prises, which controls non-literary rights
to Tolkien's works, licensed Iron Crown to
publish any paper game based on The
Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. So, the
same license that let Iron Crown produce
an extensive line of Tolkien-based role-
playing materials also allowed the compa-
ny to create the "Middle-earth" CCG.
Licenses aren't "contagious" like dis-
eases. Just because Decipher has licensed
a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" card
game from Paramount Pictures and a
"Star Wars" game from Lucasfilm doesn't
mean that Paramount and Lucasfilm have
any relationship, nor can these two stu-
dios automatically use Decipher's other
properties. If Lucasfilm wanted to film
Decipher's How to Host a Murder party
games, it would negotiate that license
from square one - just like anyone else.
Some contracts grant the licensee
rights to sublicense particular aspects of
the license. West End Games' deal for its
Star Wars role-playing game includes
foreign translations, and West End has
subcontracted European editions to com-
panies such as Jeu Descartes in France.
Task Force Games' Star Trek-based Star
Fleet Battles board game is licensed, not
through Paramount but through Franz
Joseph Designs, whose 1972 license for
Star Trek blueprints and technical man-
uals includes a sublicense for games
based on this material.
GETTING A LICENSE
"Licensing is all about money," says
Steve Domzalski, director of card games
at Fleer/SkyBox International and devel-
oper of Fleer/SkyBox's "OverPower" and
"Star Trek" card games. "If you've got the
money to throw at a license, you can
have that license." Although, he adds,
"sometimes it's a matter of who gets
there first."
rights to sublicense particular aspects of
the license. West End Games' deal for its
Star Wars role-playing game includes
foreign translations, and West End has
subcontracted European editions to com-
panies such as Jeu Descartes in France.
Task Force Games' Star Trek-based Star
Fleet Battles board game is licensed, not
through Paramount but through Franz
Joseph Designs, whose 1972 license for
Star Trek blueprints and technical man-
uals includes a sublicense for games
based on this material.
GETTING A LICENSE
"Licensing is all about money," says
Steve Domzalski, director of card games
at Fleer/SkyBox International and devel-
oper of Fleer/SkyBox's "OverPower" and
"Star Trek" card games. "If you've got the
money to throw at a license, you can
have that license." Although, he adds,
"sometimes it's a matter of who gets
there first."
Sometimes being first, or even second,
doesn't decide the issue. Initially, Topps
had the license for a CCG based on the
popular Fox TV series The X-Files. Then
the graphics firm November Lazar Scher
(NLS) - which had also worked with the
NXT Games design studio on Donruss'
"Top of the Order" and "Red Zone"
CCGs - met with Fox officials. Says NXT
president Duncan Macdonell, "Fox be-
came interested in having NXT design
the game. NLS began negotiations with
Fox, Donruss, and Topps, and eventually
reached a contractual arrangement that
involved Donruss obtaining the rights to
the 'X-Files' game, and NXT Games de-
signing the product."
But the license shuffle didn't end there
In early 1996, Donruss sold its sports-card
and card-game properties. NXT Games
negotiated a transfer of its service agree-
ment to still another company, the U.S.
Playing Card Co. (USPC). "We had to return
to Fox and confirm that the ['X-Files']
license could be transferred to USPC,"
Macdonell says. Now, "USPC owns the
license and is the manufacturer, NLS has
done all the graphics, and NXT Games
designed the game."
PROBLEMS
doesn't decide the issue. Initially, Topps
had the license for a CCG based on the
popular Fox TV series The X-Files. Then
the graphics firm November Lazar Scher
(NLS) - which had also worked with the
NXT Games design studio on Donruss'
"Top of the Order" and "Red Zone"
CCGs - met with Fox officials. Says NXT
president Duncan Macdonell, "Fox be-
came interested in having NXT design
the game. NLS began negotiations with
Fox, Donruss, and Topps, and eventually
reached a contractual arrangement that
involved Donruss obtaining the rights to
the 'X-Files' game, and NXT Games de-
signing the product."
But the license shuffle didn't end there
In early 1996, Donruss sold its sports-card
and card-game properties. NXT Games
negotiated a transfer of its service agree-
ment to still another company, the U.S.
Playing Card Co. (USPC). "We had to return
to Fox and confirm that the ['X-Files']
license could be transferred to USPC,"
Macdonell says. Now, "USPC owns the
license and is the manufacturer, NLS has
done all the graphics, and NXT Games
designed the game."
PROBLEMS
A game license - like a marriage license -
signals the start of a continuing relation-
ship. Though the license brings with it a
ready-made background and, often, an
eager audience, it also brings restrictions
that unlicensed games never know.
