After working on secret top title: Netflix closes game studio

Netflix has closed a development studio that was allegedly working on a top-class ("AAA") game for various platforms. This was reported by the industry magazine Game File, and the streaming service has since confirmed the closure to US media. However, not much is known about the studio or the game that has now been stopped. According to Game File, the studio was internally called "Blue", and Netflix had hired high-ranking managers from the competition to run it. The three managers, whose previous positions included the Sony studio in Santa Monica and Bungie, have already left Netflix after less than two years, according to the report. One of them announced in spring 2023 that he was working on a "brand new AAA title for various platforms" that did not build on an existing franchise.

Netflix is keeping a low profile

Netflix has been offering games alongside series and films in its mobile applications for years. These include particularly popular titles such as "GTA: The Trilogy" and "Hades". The hiring of Joseph Staten from the Halo studio Bungie was accompanied by the announcement of an ambitious multi-platform title and the expectation that the streaming service would invest appropriate resources in the new studio. It is not known to what extent this happened and how far the development of the title had progressed. Netflix's reasons for the closure are also unknown.

Netflix's games division has been headed up by Mike Verdu since 2021, who previously worked as a manager at Electronic Arts and Facebook's Oculus division, among others. Under his aegis, several studios that had made a name for themselves with mobile games were acquired, including Next Games ("Stranger Things: Puzzle Quest", "The Walking Dead: Out World") and Night School Studio ("Oxenfree"). Netflix has not yet commented on whether the closure of Studio Blue will also have an impact on these studios and their development of mobile games.

(mho)