Netflix recently closed its AAA game studio.

Netflix’s expansion plans suffer.

The platform has yet to find its niche outside of streaming.

Netflix is currently performing so well that any setbacks are surprising. With the excellent quarterly results still fresh in our minds, we’ve learned that the company will raise its rates because it can and that it continues to experiment with formulas to revitalize its production, as one of the world’s top fiction producers. However, its ambitious plan to expand beyond film and series has met harsh reality.

Netflix wants fun. Netflix has wanted to get into video games since 2021. Its first games, mobile titles that took advantage of the company’s properties like ‘Stranger Things’, were not well received. Although limited to mobile, its video game ventures became more serious in 2022. Its free games for subscribers became more ambitious and sophisticated.

Continued growth. Add to this the games we’ve had in 2024 (‘Sonic Mania Plus’, ‘Braid’, ‘Chicken Run: Eggstraction‘, ‘Hades’, ‘Katana Zero’, or ‘Monument Valley’) and we have a good catalogue, boosted by the ability to play some games in the browser (and some of the high-quality ones, like ‘Oxenfree’, ‘Reigns’, or ‘The Almost Gone’, which can be controlled by a smartphone on a TV). Netflix opened a AAA game studio out of ambition.

Everyone hired. Chacko Sonny, a ‘Overwatch’ executive producer, joined this new studio, Team Blue. Joe Staten (scriptwriter of ‘Crackdown’ and several ‘Halo’ games, including ‘Halo Infinite’) and Raf Grassetti (art director of the latest ‘God of War’ games at Sony Santa Monica) were other notable industry figures who joined the company.

It’s closing. In his newsletter Game File, Stephen Totilo reported that the Southern California studio, which was developing a third-person action RPG for PC and possibly consoles, has closed. Alain Tascan, a former Epic Games executive, replaced Mike Verdu as director. According to Business Insider, 35 people were fired when he took over, which Totilo says is low.

The others remain. Netflix owns more than one studio, but this one had the best staff. The company retains Night School (‘Oxenfree’), Next Games, Spy Fox, and Boss Fight talent. However, these smaller studios specialize in mobile games, which raises important questions for the platform’s future.

80 games in development. In July, Netflix announced that it had 80 video games in development and planned to release one per month to add to its 100 already available. This indicated that Netflix Stories, smaller narrative games often linked to the platform’s series, would remain a large part of its portfolio. Netflix may rethink its medium-term goals without a AAA studio.

Netflix recently closed its AAA game studio.

Netflix’s expansion plans suffer.

By knl9j

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