ONE DEAD GAME.

SEVEN YEARS OF DEFIANCE.

HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS.

When corporate nonsense killed Netrunner in 2018, the fans took over. Seven years later, they've built something bigger than the original.

Always Be Running: A Netrunner Documentary

Always Be Running: A Netrunner Documentary is the story of how a passionate group of players volunteered their efforts to save their favorite game from death and became a non-profit game studio in the process.

Players at Netrunner 2018 Worlds Magnum Opus

Note

Netrunner is a two-player asymmetric expandable card game set in a dystopian cyberpunk near-future where elite hackers known as “runners” aim to thwart the control of mega-corporations by hacking into their servers (making a “run”) and preventing them from advancing their agendas. It was designed by Richard Garfield, who also created Magic: The Gathering.

The players banded together and eventually formed a non-profit, made up entirely of volunteers from around the globe, and started publishing compatible expansions to the game — card sets that take thousands of people-hours to design, play-test, and create custom art for — which they give away for free as print-and-play files.

Each new set adds to the lore and builds on the foundation of the one before, and now, seven years later, shows that people can do remarkable things and that profit isn’t everything.

While plenty of people might claim that they will do whatever it takes to keep their hobby or community alive, such claims usually remain wishful thinking. Netrunner players prove the exception that sometimes such a daunting task actually happens and perhaps becomes something even bigger than intended.

Told from the perspectives of two worlds tournaments, seven years apart, 
Always Be Running features the voices 
of the community of players of Netrunner, telling their own story, of why their game 
was worth saving.

Told entirely by the players’ own voices, Always Be Running demonstrates that while the players themselves are now making the game they so love, perhaps it is the community of players that actually make the game worth playing.

This is the future of community-led gaming.

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Genre: Documentary Film
Runtime: 94 minutes
Themes: Community, Lifestyle, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Self-Expression, Grassroots, Non-Profit
Tech Specs: Digital, 4k, 1.9:1 Aspect
Language: English
Production Dates: 2018 & 2025-2026
Country of Origin: United States
Director/Editor/Cinematographer: Jeremy Wilker

A player reveals their chosen card during a match at Netrunner Worlds 2018 Magnum Opus. Two players in an awkard silly embrace after a few drinks at Netrunner Worlds 2018 Magnum Opus. A photo of a player's full forearm cyberpunk tattoo of circuits at Netrunner Worlds 2018 Magnum Opus. A table view of a game of Netrunner at 2018 Worlds Magnum Opus A shot of a portfolio book of many pages showing instant photos taken of players at Netrunner Worlds 2018 Magnum Opus. A player shows their card to their opponent in a crowded room of tables at Netrunner Worlds 2025 in Scotland. Two players in blue shirts during an animated game of Netrunner at Netrunner Worlds 2025 in Scotland. A volunteer helps two players get ready to play on the livestream table at Netrunner Worlds 2025 in Scotland. A close-up shot of a player looking intently at their opponent while holding their card in front of them at Netrunner Worlds 2025 in Scotland. A wide view of crowded floor and balcony of Dovecot Studios, full of hundreds of players, at Netrunner Worlds 2025 in Scotland.