Amazon Studios and Matt Mercer’s Critical Role announce a multi-year exclusive overall TV and first-look film deal, building on the success of the adult animation series The Legend of Vox Machina on Prime Video.

The first new series to be produced under the agreement is Mighty Nein which will be based on Critical Role’s second campaign, which ran from January 2018 to mid-2021. The story follows a band of criminals and misfits who are the only ones who can prevent the kingdom from plunging into chaos when an arcane artifact capable of reshaping reality falls into the wrong hands. The series is set to begin production shortly in partnership with animation studio Titmouse, who also worked with Critical Role and Amazon Studios on Vox Machina. The series will premiere exclusively on Prime Video, but a release date has not yet been announced.

Critical Role’s first animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, was based on the group’s first D&D campaign which livestreamed from 2015-17. Season 1 premiered in January 2022 on Prime Video, and Season Two was debuted on Jan. 20. A third season of Vox Machina is currently in production.

Under the deal with Amazon Studios, Critical Role will continue to produce under its production banner, Metapigeon. The company will develop its own original TV shows, films and content while also working with talented creatives on new projects in and outside of the Critical Role universe.

The production deal for Mighty Nein was made against the backdrop of the incredible backlash against Wizards of the Coast, current operators of the Dungeons & Dragons gaming franchise. WotC has a motion picture ready to release on March 31, 2023, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, along with plans for its own TV series. The current attempts by WotC to “deauthorize” the Open Gaming License that gave rise to the universe of D&D third party creators has created a consumer backlash so strong that it may actually tank their movie’s prospects at the box office.

Critical Role is one of the companies caught in the crossfire as Wizards of the Coast attempts to “deauthorize” the Open Gaming License version 1.0a, a license based on open software licensing successfully used for over 40 years.

We’re thrilled to see Amazon embracing the Critical Role cinematic universe and excited to see what new adventures the new series Mighty Nein has in store.

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Gene Turnbow

President of Krypton Media Group, Inc., radio personality and station manager of SCIFI.radio. Part writer, part animator, part musician, part illustrator, part programmer, part entrepreneur - all geek.