WotC targets sci-fi RPG for ‘racist and transphobic content’

Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns and operates Dungeons & Dragonsis suing the publisher behind a new sci-fi RPG in an attempt to stop the game’s release. They argue that not only does it violate D&D intellectual property rights, but that it contains “obviously racist and transphobic content.”

As GeekWire reports, this is just the latest round in a long battle between WotC and TSR LLC. TSR SARL is a company founded by J&D the son of co-creator Gary Gygax, Ernie in 2019, and which claims to be the reincarnation of TSR, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons (which went bankrupt in 1997).

The game in question is called Star Frontiers: New Genesiswhich claims to be an updated version of one of TSR’s original RPGs, but has been the center of huge controversy throughout the year. You can catch some of the drama here in this Dice breaker reportbut suffice to say there was some gross shit.

For this costume, wizards cite things like an early version of star borders which was published in July, which contained text like:

… racing in Star Frontiers NewGenesis is no different than racing in the real world. Some are better than others at certain things, and some races are superior to others…

The suit also cites documents saying “a ‘Negro’ race is ofdescribed as a “sub-race” in the game and as having “medium” intelligence with maximum intelligenceintelligence rating of 9, while the “Nordic” race has a minimum intelligence rating of 13.

“The game also refers to the Black Lives Matter movement as ‘radical’,” it continues, while adding “Star Frontiers New Genesis also contains offensive transphobic material: it includes a specific gender option for ‘Male/Female no bonus, and no Trans’ characters.”

While affirming that certain aspects of star borders infringe on D&D intellectual property, WotC is also concerned about the risk of confusion among gamers, who may associate the game’s hateful content with their own official product.

Wizards would be irreparably harmed by the publication and distribution of the game using its trademarks, because consumers could wrongly associate Wizards with objectionable content in the game, damage its reputation and goodwill, and undermine its efforts to foster a culture that embraces the diversity around its games.

Wizards now wants an injunction to “prevent [the] accused of any further distribution of this degrading and offensive product containing wizarding marks – or any other iteration of the Star Frontiers new genesis games – to avoid irreparable damage to the reputation and brand of Wizards.

A revised edition of the game is reportedly in production; this reveal of its contents shows some, but not all,racist material has been removed (or at least edited).