Netflix no longer relies exclusively on third-party companies to flesh out its (small) catalog of games. The American streaming giant has just announced the creation of an in-house studio in Helsinki (Finland), in order to launch “world-class” original games without advertising or in-app purchases. If it is too early to give details on the games themselves, we learn that the director is none other than Marko Lastikka, former Zynga and EA.
Netflix bets a lot on video games
According to Netflix, Helsinki is a solid choice, as it is home to some of the “best talent” on the planet. That includes the studio behind “The Walking Dead” and “Stranger Things” mobile games, Next Games (which Netflix bought in March). The competitor of Apple TV+ has indeed acquired many companies in the field, including the creator of the excellent Oxenfree, Night School Studiobut did not yet have its own team.
Of course, by the time all of this is in place, you won’t see the first games for “years” according to the firm. Nevertheless, this project and recent acquisitions show the evolution of Netflix’s video game strategy. While Netflix initially offered smaller third-party games, including slightly tweaked versions of existing titles, it is increasingly focusing on truly unique projects that you won’t find anywhere else. Better, it targets high quality titles in order to improve the retention of subscribers who can wait between two episodes or series while playing. Remember that Netflix lost several million subscribers for the first time in ten years a few months ago.
Who among you has ever played a Netflix game?