Dear Neopians,
It is with an extremely heavy heart that we have to announce the early and incomplete termination of the TTRPG project. At midnight NST today, Neopets sent out a unilateral broadcast that our partnership was being concluded effective immediately.
Last month, we circulated a document that wasn't ready for distribution for a number of reasons, and we apologize for the confusion this has generated. A key thing we wish to discuss was that this document was not submitted for review by Neopets prior to our releasing it, and did not reflect either their views or our usual approval process. We apologize as well, both to Neopets and to the fans that we did not follow our usual submission procedures. There are strict guidelines for review in place for the exact reasons we've seen in the past few weeks. We have not issued a statement until now because, though we have reached out on numerous occasions to Neopets over the past month, and despite repeated attempts to have a discussion, offer input, clear the air, and hopefully to move forward, we have received no response for discussion and been given no information or guidance on how to proceed, which is why we’ve been largely silent for the past several weeks, trying to move forward and feeling unable to do so.
For further context, we had intended the playtest document to be a fluid, living document that we could continue modifying in real time, as we added or removed experimental modules and rule sets, updating the changelog at the beginning of the document to notify participants of new or recently added or modified features. The document was a small subset of a very large project, and was intended to be a draft of a draft, undergoing constant revision, focus testing things that worked and getting vibe checks to finalize the things we had decided on.
Admittedly, labeling it as a beta release was a poor choice of words to describe it - we had done internal alpha testing with a number of Discord users and were looking to get more input from a wider variety of fans, and able to foster a more communicative relationship with those testers as a result. Our alpha test benefitted greatly from having people asking questions directly on the Discord and sparking conversation after reading through the documents, and we expected a bit more of the same, with a higher volume. Labeling it as a beta seemed the next iteration of that, but was not intended to be anywhere near to a release candidate, and we mistakenly gave the impression that the document reflected that. Absence of described campaign components like Pacifism or Crafting were intended to be added to the document over the following weeks as we made each module our subsequent focus, and as some fans noted, there were no depictions of recently introduced GM von Roo, since he would only be appearing in the final book to help reconcile non-canonical events. We did not do a great job of setting expectations of our intent with the playtest document, relative to how it was interpreted by the community, and unfortunately did not get a chance to rectify it.
It's absolutely no excuse, but the fluid nature of the document meant that there would be far too much for Neopets to be expected to keep up with in real-time as we tweaked actual gameplay mechanics that were intended to be lore-independent, many of which were not going to make it past the cutting room floor for final submission, and using some basic scenarios that were never once going to appear in the book. We mis-stepped by not considering the ongoing drafting and editing occurring in a public setting as needing review from Neopets, since they had approved several key components of the mechanics being explored and been largely hands-off with regards to mechanics development otherwise. We had been working regularly and diligently with members of the Neopets team to review the other content during our development, and thought it best to include them on the mechanics side when there was actual finished work to show.
We misjudged a number of things, sheer volume and rapidity of fan response for one, and were reminded how intensely passionate the fans can be - a lot of things happened in a very short period of time. A lot of things were misconstrued and misrepresented in the community, but when combined with some vandalism that occurred on the document we released, some missing parts, and some legacy components still in the document for reference, it quickly became clear that it wasn't indicative of the actual state of the project and we wanted to re-tool it significantly before having further discussions for playtesting. Some of those pre-conversion legacy components also gave the impression that the game is a 5e re-skin, which it is not and has not been for quite a long while, being closer ultimately to an MLP, PbtA, and Fabula Ultima style in its intended final form, and being the product of extensive research into existing and newly developed systems.
Our team has worked incredibly hard on the TTRPG, and have drafted over 1,000 pages of material. Among the things not included in the initially more bare bones playtest document, we also have Pacifism, Crafting, Leveling, Character Creation, Land Guides, Combat, long lists of creatures and NPCs and Random Events and plot hooks, all 56 species playable, as well as work being done on Perks and Powers, Factions, PetPets, 22 explorable regions with all new region maps, Professions, and so, so much more. We've been happy to share sneak peeks in the Discord, and we're disappointed that we didn't get the chance to share some of those components more broadly with the fan base before taking down the document.
Based on some fan response, it's worth noting that about 80% of our staff is representative of the LGBQTIA+ community, and we staunchly believe in having those voices heard and supporting the community. There were some insinuations about one of the phrases in the playtest scenario that didn't really hold up to either the intended sentiment, the phrasing, or the heart of the project. However, it was also our stated intent to have the entire project reviewed by sensitivity readers prior to final release as well, to help avoid misconceptions like some that circulated.
Regarding some commentary on the Session 0 notes - we weren't doing anything to tell you how to play your game or even suggesting what aspects you want to incorporate in your gameplay, but we are seasoned enough gamers to know that things can go awry in a group gameplay setting if people have different expectations of how they want their games to go, to the potential discomfort or distress of others. Having informed consent and an initial setting of those expectations is a pretty good idea in any game you play. Discussions of things that might make members uncomfortable can and should be readily addressed in a Session 0, and even things like the levels of conflict depiction can be talked about for whatever's appropriate for your group (ie, if you prefer to narratively give gentle but discouraging bops on the head to your foes instead of swinging a 16-icon sword at them). It's your game, but played in conjunction with others. This would be especially true of people playing through with the Pacifism approaches, since those approaches can sometimes be in opposition to a more combative approach, to make sure you're having a fun and respectful time playing with your party.
We very much appreciate the passion and enthusiasm of the Neopets community, and have always strived to serve it. Neopets means different things to different people - but it always means a lot to all of us. There were many excellent suggestions given in the brief window the document was live, and a consistent feedback we got was people expecting to have more slice of life daily Neopets experience, rather than high, grand swashbuckling style adventures across Neopia, and that's something we took to heart and were set to implement within our system of progressive dice and stress systems.
If you've seen our Neopets Tarot deck, you'll know that we have the utmost respect and passion for the brand and the worldbuilding of Neopets, as well as a deep understanding of the world we're working with. In part, a lot of the time being spent on our rule sets is to capture the essence and feel of Neopets, and things have often been reworked numerous times to accommodate that evolution, and those things didn't get a chance to get put on display. We'd far rather have something done right, than done quickly, and we didn't intend to put out anything as a final product that isn’t worthy of the Neopets world.
We're genuinely sorry that we didn't get a chance to put a better foot forward on this and that it dampened a lot of your expectations and hopes for this project considerably, but we're even more dismayed that Neopets felt termination was the only path available. This is supremely disappointing to us as longstanding and loyal licensees of the brand, but it is ultimately their decision, and they have offered no recourse. Last month, we proposed several immediate ways of remediating the situation and towards stated grievances after last month's attempt at a beta preview, and these were apparently rejected internally.
Neopets' decision to do this with no further insight or clarity on the project from the team members, and their issued statement to ask for refunds was done, we feel, with little to no regard for the actual state of work done, financial status, or regard for the backers, and makes for a poorly proposed exit strategy. Again, this is their right, but we have given every indication that we wanted to make things better and offered repeated communication to fix things.
Though we have done our best to shield the fact from the campaign out of respect to the Neopets team as the licensor, progress on this project has been continuously hampered by their side, even as far back as the original pre-launch of the Kickstarter. While we do not attribute this to any specific individuals, and have had an excellent rapport with the team members we've worked with, the organization overall has been slow to help advance the project in almost any capacity. This has gone both ways in some cases, and we fully accept that also played a part in some of the slowness of the communication, but it has been difficult to get Neopets to focus on this project to the level it has needed since its creation.
Our project was organized in a shared team Google Drive folder that Neopets has had access to since day one of the project, and they have been asked and invited continuously throughout the entirety of the project to review documents and check in, as well as be included in our weekly meetings. We were told frequently that they were too busy to review work, and we were explicitly told only to submit things that were finalized, which often needed a lengthy feedback cycle directly requiring their input to get to that finalized level, and even as recently as meetings in January, we were being told for the first time what should and shouldn't be considered canonical to include in the lore portions of the book.
Neopets themselves have their own contractual obligations to review and approve materials in a timely manner, and after submitting four chapters for review in September 2025, they had, as of mid January 2026, still not completed full review of the first chapter, and made no commentary or review on the other chapters. Meetings were frequently canceled or postponed, or took weeks to schedule. Points of contact and licensing coordinators changed without any warning throughout the project, approvals processes and platforms changed several times, layoffs occurred with gaps in communication and onboarded newcomers and managerial roles gave the impression they did not understand the scope or nature of the project. We prepared lists of essential questions for writing the world guide, were told it was too long to answer, and were asked to trim down to make more manageable for Neopets to answer, yet still went unanswered for over a year.
As they have given us grace on certain issues, we've always tried to extend the same to them. Their decision to terminate a project underway for three years, with 1,000+ pages written, and to announce it publicly at midnight took us by surprise, as was their decision to release their previous public statement several weeks ago after refusing to give any guidance, receive any input, hold any meetings with our team, solicit any feedback, or seek any clarity or insight into the situation or the project, but unfortunately is about par for the course for the support level we've come to expect from the company and from the brand.
We are not a large company. We take risks on projects like these to help grow our company, but also to do so in a way that serves the fans of our beloved fandoms and gives them representation where they had little or none, and to do justice to their respective worlds. Most people would agree that capturing essence is something we do well.
In a previous project we did under the Neopets license several years ago, we developed a fully illustrated Neopets Tarot 78 card deck of all original art that we spent over a year working on, making a premium, deluxe edition and intending to do a more general release akin to playing cards later. Neopets then took and released that art to another company to make an almost identical deck, rebranding it as the Faerie Edition, undercutting our significant personal investment in the project while also offering no compensation, consideration, or allowances for doing so (and to the outrage of some of the other signed licensees). While technically within their legal purview to do so, it was also extremely unethical and almost unheard of in the licensing world to release a competing product using the same art assets produced by another licensee, and there was never an attempt in moving forward to provide recompense. Maneuvers like this can kill small businesses like ours, and we have still never recouped our investment from our undertaking.
Throughout this project, we have been promised, among other things, support in marketing and promotion, editing, lore review, and art asset procurement, and the lack of followup of the past month and the legal documents we were served have given the sense of the Neopets team relying on social media comments and reactions as facts as a means to exit, while not seeking out context from our team or directing us to implement changes that would have been simple to do, by easily change voice and tone to more closely match Neopets theme, even in the playtest documents, and to help undo any damage or harm we had inadvertently done to public opinion and Neopets’ reputation by clarifying and issuing statements to everyone immediately. Instead, all meetings were immediately canceled and we were stonewalled henceforth.
The unpublished parts of the RPG have far more whimsy and emphasis on Neopets feel, with plans to add more as we reached the polishing stage. We know that Neopets, like ourselves, has been trying their best to give this project attention, but our team has ultimately had the takeaway impression that they are overburdened with their licensing and narrative tasks and haven't been able to live up to their own obligations for adequate attention or review that a project of this magnitude required. All preparation for the Kickstarter was stalled repeatedly, having originally supposed to run in October of 2023 and finally being allowed to run in July 2024 after requests to push it back several times. At the beginning of the Kickstarter campaign, we were specifically asked to bring down the pledge goal from $50k to $25k, as Neopets felt an unsuccessful Kickstarter attempt would itself damage the brand, and we had to pointedly convince them how many people would want a project like this. We have advocated for the inclusion of all species in many of our projects, instead of the go-to five species, to give the best representation and diversity to the fans of Neopets that we possibly can. Many missteps could and should have been avoided, on both sides.
We fully acknowledge that releasing the document unreviewed was wrong, but it was done so from a place of trying to help continue moving the work forward alongside the workload that was already dragging out and overworking the Neopets team, and in light of the fact that they had expressed an inability to review the current workload at a tenable release for 2026, we perceived the playtest document as a tool for continuing development in doing the fine-tuning of rule sets in view of the backers, in preparation to have the book-ready mechanics ready for submission, not as releasing something considered to be official and final, since so much would be subject to change. A little more patience both from the fanbase and from Neopets and some communication on either side could have fixed instead of escalated it. We wanted to do right by the fans and actually introduce the good stuff that the backers would be excited about, and had a plan for rolling out those components in bursts so that we could utilize the input in a reasonable way.
We do not feel this decision to terminate is well-informed, nor an appropriate response to the situation, and we regret that it has come to this. We acknowledge that we have had missteps, and appreciated the community's patience as we worked to continue making things better. Our team has worked extremely hard on this project for several years, and we've been excited to share with you the actual progress as things became available for review, and sadly it seems we will be unable to do so moving forward.
We're not sure how to proceed from here, as the suddenness of their decision without any kind of consultation leaves everything in a precarious state. We are not in a position to refund the entire project, as huge parts were already spent on game and asset development, paid out to royalties, and for project overhead, but we do want to do what we can to make things right, in whatever way we tenably can. We'll try to have more on what that might look like in the near future.
We have enjoyed working with Neopets over the past six years, and especially since we were with them from a time when there were almost no other licensees offering merch, and have had the good fortune and wide latitude to explore developing a fun range of products, including Neopoint coins, enamel pins, puzzles, advent calendars, cloth maps, Obelisk Faction patches, slap bracelets, convention swag, squishes, Tarot deck, blankets, posters, Christmas ornaments, character hoods, and other nifty fan-service items. We have made a lot of friends and met a lot of fans in the community and were honored to be leading the charge on this project, and we are saddened and disappointed that we won't be able to see it through to completion. There's more navigating to be done ahead, so please bear with us as we chart our path forward.
-The Geekify Crew
