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Cortex Prime will be “Netflix: The Roleplaying Game”

All of your favorite universes will soon be “Primed by Cortex”

A few years back Fandom acquired the Cortex Prime roleplaying game system. On the off chance you’re unaware of what Fandom is, they used to be called Wikia. They host wikis for every fandom on Earth, hence the name. Tron, Barbie, Law & Order, etc.

Cortex’s system was the foundation for several RPGs based on licensed properties. Battlestar Galactica, Serentiy and Firefly, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Smallville, and Supernatural all used Cortex. Buying Cortex was a fairly obvious next step in Fandom’s bid to have a stake in every IP ever. The upcoming RPGs based on Tales of the Dragon Prince and He-Man, both of which are Netflix shows, will be “Primed by Cortex”.

But Cortex Prime has yet to take off with hobby gamers. It’s a good game with a good system in a good book, but it’s in a bad position. The hard copy is on Amazon but the PDF is on Fandom’s own site, and you have to make an account through Google or Facebook to buy it. And the verbiage is odd. It says, “Access Cortex Anywhere, Anytime, on Any Device”. It sounds like an app, or some kind of “live service”. I don’t know anyone who’s bought the digital version. Just the hard copies.

Going purely physical isn’t an automatic death sentence. The Star Wars RPG isn’t sold as PDFs at all and it’s working out fine for Fantasy Flight. But Cortex ain’t Star Wars. I know it’s the cool thing to have your own walled garden, because all companies are tech companies now, but Cortex Prime would have cleaned up on DriveThruRPG.

Cortex is becoming “Netflix: The Roleplaying Game”. Or maybe “Fandom: The Roleplaying Game”. They’re starting with Netflix shows, but right now Fandom is trying to license every movie, TV show, video game, comic book, YA novel, and toy line in existence. Getting the Marvel and DC licenses back will be no sweat. They’ve been there and done that. But once that train gets going, every entertainment property will be on the table. John Wick. The Matrix. RWBY. Charmed. Powerpuff Girls. Grand Theft Auto. NCIS for fuck’s sake! Those and every other big IP will be “Primed by Cortex”.

Except for Transformers, of course. WotC will make that game in house, along with G.I. Joe, MASK, and all the other toys in the inevitable Hasbro Cinematic Universe.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the PDFs for Tales of the Dragon Prince and Legends of Grayskull are super-cheap or even free. That would make them less like merch and more like content. Content meant to keep fans hooked between releases and seasons and installments. This isn’t a new idea. The Carnival Row supplement for Cypher was a free download. I’m not sure it worked, but I bet it got Fandom’s attention. Fandom might not be paying much for these licenses, and some the IP owners might end up paying Fandom.