V2 Partner-IP Rights Strategy

Status: planning baseline, adopted 2026-06-12. Fills the licensing-feasibility gap identified by V1_V7_PLAN_SET_AUDIT_2026-06-12.md §6.2 ("no licensing-feasibility analysis for the commercially unprecedented premise").

Scope: the launch-roster requirement of ≥ 60 fighters including ≥ 12 partner-IP fighters licensed individually (V2/V2_features.md:1021-1022; V2/ue/Source/V2Combat/Private/V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:563-564). The canonical roster catalog (V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:609-626) names 18 partner-IP fighters across four rightsholders:

Owner-roles used below: BD = Head of Business Development (deal lead), GC = General Counsel, EP = Executive Producer (approval pipeline), BMD = Brand & Marketing Director, RDL = Roster Design Lead.

1. The structural problem with V2's ask#

Every successful character-licensing precedent in fighting games is a guest shot: one or two characters, framed as a marketing event, in a game that does not substitute for the lender's own product. V2's ask is categorically different on three axes:

1. Volume. 4-5 characters per franchise — effectively each franchise's iconic core cast, not a guest.
2. Substitution. V2 explicitly ships an MK-feel ruleset, an SF-feel ruleset, a Tekken-feel ruleset, a KOF-adjacent striking system, and an SC-feel weapon ruleset (V2/V2_features.md:433 "seven first-class rulesets"). A player who owns V2-with-Scorpion-in-an-MK-ruleset has less reason to buy Mortal Kombat. No rightsholder has ever licensed its core cast into a direct genre substitute.
3. Simultaneity. Capcom, SNK, WB, and Bandai Namco are competitors; appearing together outside Smash requires each to accept co-billing with rivals in a product none of them controls.

Conclusion up front: the all-deals-executed scenario is the upside case, not the plan of record. The plan of record is the all-original fallback roster (§5) with partner-IP slots converted to post-launch DLC as deals close.

2. Per-rightsholder analysis#

2.1 SNK (owned ~96% by EGDC / Savvy Games Group)#

Posture: most permissive licensor in the genre. Outbound precedents: Terry Bogard playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2019); Terry (2024) and Mai (2025) playable in Street Fighter 6 — i.e., SNK has already licensed its leads into a directly competing 1v1 fighting game made by Capcom; Mai Shiranui playable in Dead or Alive 5 Last Round and DOA6 (Koei Tecmo); long SNK-vs-Capcom co-licensing history in both directions; frequent mobile collab licensing. SNK treats outbound appearances as marketing for KOF/Fatal Fury and its new ownership is actively investing in franchise visibility.

• Probability (planning assumption adopted 2026-06-12, derived from the precedent density above): full 4-character slate 35-50%; at least Terry + Mai 55-65%.
• Deal shape expectation: per-character MG against revenue share; strong approval rights on move fidelity (Power Geyser, Musou no Mai etc. must read correctly) and on Mai's costume treatment per regional ratings.
• Watch item: EGDC parentage means deal approval may route through Savvy Games Group; build 8-12 weeks of extra legal latency into the timeline.

2.2 Capcom#

Posture: prolific, precedent-rich, protective of move fidelity. Outbound precedents: Ryu and Ken playable in Smash Ultimate; Ryu and Chun-Li playable as DLC in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid (2021) — the single most relevant precedent, because nWay is a third-party studio and the game is a tag fighter, proving Capcom will put SF leads into someone else's fighting game; Ryu, Chun-Li, Cammy and Guile cosmetic skins in Fortnite (2021); Street Fighter x Tekken (2012) licensing exchange with Namco; broad merchandising and collab program. Capcom also takes inbound guests (SNK characters into SF6), demonstrating institutional comfort with crossover paper in both directions.

• Probability (planning assumption adopted 2026-06-12): full 4-character slate 20-30%; a 2-character package (Ryu + Chun-Li, mirroring Battle for the Grid) 35-45%. Discount vs SNK because SF6 is mid-lifecycle and V2's SF-feel ruleset (unsmoothed motion inputs, Drive-like meters, V2/V2_features.md:444) is a closer substitute than any prior licensee.
• Deal shape expectation: Capcom historically demands granular approvals (model, animation timing of signature moves, VO casting — Ryu's seiyuu continuity matters) and marketing-asset approval on every use.

2.3 Bandai Namco#

Posture: selective; lends to Nintendo, hoards elsewhere; SC cast almost never leaves home. Outbound precedents: Kazuya playable in Smash Ultimate (2021); Heihachi playable in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (2012); Street Fighter x Tekken licensed the Tekken cast to Capcom in 2012 — but the reciprocal Tekken x Street Fighter was frozen indefinitely, a signed deal between two willing publishers that still never shipped, which is the cautionary precedent for multi-year crossover execution risk. Soulcalibur is an inbound-guest franchise (Link, Spawn, Yoda/Vader, Ezio, Geralt, 2B); Mitsurugi has effectively never been licensed out. Tekken 8 is live and annually monetized; V2's Tekken-feel ruleset with juggles and stage breaks (V2/V2_features.md:454) is a direct substitute.

• Probability (planning assumption adopted 2026-06-12): full 5-character slate 10-20%; a 1-2 character Tekken package 20-30%; Mitsurugi specifically < 10%.
• Leverage option: offer a reciprocal — a V2 original fighter licensed into Tekken 8 as a guest — plus esports co-promotion. Bandai Namco's Tekken leadership has historically valued reciprocity and personal-relationship deals; route the approach through the Tekken brand custodians, not only corporate licensing.

2.4 Warner Bros. / NetherRealm#

Posture: imports guests, exports almost nothing. NRS games are built on inbound guest licensing (Kratos, Freddy Krueger, Predator, Terminator, Joker, Spawn, RoboCop, Rambo, Homelander, Omni-Man...), but MK's own cast has never been playable in a fighting game WB did not publish. The only notable outbound use is the Sub-Zero cosmetic skin in Fortnite (2021) — a non-competing genre, cosmetic-only. Scorpion/Sub-Zero appearances otherwise stay inside WB products (Injustice, MultiVersus). MK is one of WB Games' few dependable franchises; post-2023 WB restructuring has made games licensing more conservative, not less. V2's MK-feel ruleset with fatalities (V2/V2_TODOS.md §16) is the most direct substitution threat in the whole ask.

• Probability (planning assumption adopted 2026-06-12): any playable MK character at V2 launch < 5%; post-launch DLC once V2 has a demonstrated market and WB sees incremental revenue rather than substitution, 10-15%.
• Realistic path: a corporate-level WB Games deal (likely bundled with film/TV cross-promotion) negotiated after V2 ships and proves an audience. Plan zero WB characters in the launch window.

2.5 Joint probability and what it means#

Treating the four negotiations as approximately independent (they are not fully — an executed SNK deal raises the others, see §3), the probability that all four full slates close in time for launch is on the order of 0.45 × 0.25 × 0.15 × 0.05 ≈ 0.1%, and even the "any three" scenarios sit below 5%. The probability of at least one meaningful package (SNK 2+ or Capcom 2+) by launch is usefully high (~55-70%). Planning assumption adopted 2026-06-12, derived by multiplying the per-rightsholder midpoints above.

Therefore the catalog's MinimumPartnerIPFighterCount = 12 (V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:564) is not a plannable launch commitment. It must be reclassified as an aspiration tied to the fallback in §5, and the catalog validation must accept the all-original configuration (tracked as a follow-on TODO for the roster validator; this document does not change code).

3. Sequencing strategy#

Pursue deals in descending probability order so each close becomes social proof and a market-rate anchor for the next:

1. SNK first (start immediately; target term sheet within 2 quarters). Most willing, sets the precedent that V2 is a legitimate licensee, and establishes the royalty/MG anchor on the friendliest terms. Terry + Mai is the minimum viable package.
2. Capcom second (open informally in parallel, push to paper only after SNK signs). Capcom licensing SNK characters into SF6 means Capcom already validated the "rival cast in my fighter" logic — replay their own precedent back to them. Target Ryu + Chun-Li as the package floor.
3. Bandai Namco third (after at least one of the above signs). Lead with the reciprocity offer (§2.3). Accept a Tekken-only package; treat Mitsurugi/SC as a Year-2 conversation.
4. WB last and opportunistic. Do not gate anything on WB. Re-open at launch + 6 months with sales data.

All approaches are owned by BD with GC on paper and EP on the approval-pipeline commitments. No outreach references the other negotiations by name until at least one deal is executed (confidentiality terms will be asymmetric; assume each rightsholder demands MFN-style price protection — GC to cap MFN clauses to same-franchise-size packages).

4. Cost structure expectations#

All figures are planning assumptions adopted 2026-06-12, derived from analogous entertainment/character licensing structures (brand-licensing royalty norms of 8-15% of wholesale, scaled up for playable-character scope which carries likeness + moveset + VO + music rights) and from the observable structure of guest-character DLC pricing in the genre. No figure below is a quoted market price; each deal will set its own.

Budget envelope if the SNK + Capcom packages (6 characters) close: 6 × $750k average MG = $4.5M in guarantees plus ~$600k/yr in approval and producer overhead — material but small against the production envelope in content-production-model.md §6. Licensing cost is not the constraint; willingness is.

5. Fallback plan of record: all-original launch roster#

The catalog already contains 42 original fighters (V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:567-608). The fallback adds 18 originals to reach the 60-fighter bar (V2/V2_features.md:1021) with zero partner IP.

5.1 Archetype-slot preservation#

The 18 partner-IP entries occupy archetype slots cycling through all 12 archetypes (Striker, Grappler, Zoner, Rushdown, Powerhouse, Technical, WeaponMaster, SubmissionSpecialist, Aerial, CounterFighter, StanceSwitcher, Hybrid — per V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:609-626). Each replacement original is authored into the identical archetype slot so RequiredArchetypes coverage and the per-archetype balance matrix are unchanged. Resulting distribution: 60 fighters = exactly 5 per archetype (42 originals already give 3-4 per archetype; the 18 backfills top each archetype to 5).

5.2 Style-pool preservation#

The style-locked move pools (V2/V2_features.md:1040-1042: Wrestling ≥ 80, Martial Arts ≥ 80, Kickboxing ≥ 60, Streetfighting ≥ 60, Submissions ≥ 50, Weapon styles ≥ 40 each) are populated by original move data and do not depend on any licensed character. Each backfill fighter draws from the same style pool the displaced partner-IP fighter would have exercised, so pool coverage and CAW/CAM move availability (V2/V2_features.md:1040) are unaffected. Slot-by-slot replacement plan (fighter names to be authored by RDL; design briefs below are the planning commitment):

5.3 Legal-distinctiveness review#

Every backfill brief above is an archetype/style replacement, not a clone. Mandatory review (GC + RDL, recorded per fighter in V2/balance/fighters/<fighter>/signature-checklist.md per V2/V2_features.md:1064-1066): no protected trade dress (silhouettes, signature costumes, color-and-mask combinations), no protectable move names, no audio soundalikes of protected catchphrases, no likeness of real persons. Inspiration at the archetype level (a fireball zoner, a chain zoner) is genre vocabulary; expression-level copying is forbidden and is checked before concept art leaves the building.

5.4 Partner-IP as post-launch DLC#

When a deal closes post-launch, the licensed character ships as a paid DLC chunk (clean royalty attribution per §4), occupying a 61st+ roster slot — the backfill original is never removed. Catalog MinimumPartnerIPFighterCount applies only to the aspirational configuration and must not gate the fallback build.

5.5 Production-cost note#

The 18 backfill originals cost ~18 person-months each (content-production-model.md §5) = 324 person-months (~27 person-years) — roughly the same as ingesting 18 licensed characters, since licensed characters still need full V2-pipeline art/anim/VO plus approval overhead. The fallback is cost-neutral; it removes deal risk, not work.

6. The gate (binding)#

No partner-IP character ships in any marketing material, store asset, trailer, playtest build, or release build unless an executed license is recorded in V2/legal/.

Mechanics:

1. Executed licenses are recorded at V2/legal/licenses/<rightsholder>-<character>.md (counterparty, term, territory, MG/royalty summary, approval contacts, sunset date), owned by GC, reviewed quarterly alongside the existing registries (V2/legal/platform-cert-bans.json, V2/legal/rating-boards.json).
2. A build-time validation gate cross-references every roster entry whose origin is PartnerIP (license tags License.PartnerIP.* in V2LaunchRosterData.cpp:609-626) against the records in V2/legal/licenses/. Any PartnerIP entry without a matching executed record fails the cook for shipping configurations and fails the doc validator for marketing-asset manifests. Owner: EP (gate wiring), GC (record truth).
3. Marketing sign-off checklist (BMD) includes the same cross-reference; no key art, trailer, or store listing clears review with an unlicensed partner-IP character visible.
4. Until at least one record exists in V2/legal/licenses/, all public materials use the fallback roster of §5 exclusively.

This gate is fail-closed by design: absent paper, the character does not exist.