Netflix Is Opening New Mobile Game Studio

Netflix's push into mobile games has been critically well-received, in part because the streaming giant has made smart partnerships to bring over successful games like Into the Breach and Before Your Eyes, along with original publishing deals for games like Poinpy. But the company is now preparing to take the next step with its own newly built internal studio.

According to the announcement, the new studio will be led by Marko Lastikka, who was previously a general manager at Zynga and EA. This will be Netflix's second studio in Helsinki, but the first that it's starting from scratch, after having acquired Next Games earlier this year. Those two Helsinki developers will join Night School Studio and Boss Fight Entertainment in Netflix's portfolio of game studios.

The announcement also notes that this is an early step and that game development can take years, suggesting it may be a while before we start to see actual products out of the new studio.

Netflix has treated its game offerings as part of its standard subscription service, offering the game downloads as an added value on top of its usual movie and TV streaming. The games have been mobile-only, available by logging in through the Netflix app. The Netflix model also emulates the popular Apple Arcade model, assuring players get no ads and that their games contain no microtransactions.