Netflix is forming its own in-house game studio, as it seeks to rely less on third-party developers.
The new studio will be based in Helsinki and led by Marko Lastikka as director, formerly of Zynga and EA.
The studio will create “world class” original games without ads or in-app purchases, reports Engadget.
In the past, Netflix has bought existing studios. This will be the first it will build from scratch.
Previously-purchased developers include The Walking Dead mobile developer Next Games (bought back in March) and Oxenfree creator Night School Studio.
However, games won’t be released from this new studio for some time yet.
“This is another step in our vision to build a world-class games studio that will bring a variety of delightful and deeply engaging original games — with no ads and no in-app purchases — to our hundreds of millions of members around the world,” said Amir Rahimi, VP of Game Studios, in a press release.
“It’s still early days, and we have much more work to do to deliver a great games experience on Netflix. Creating a game can take years, so I’m proud to see how we’re steadily building the foundation of our games studios in our first year, and look forward to sharing what we produce in the coming years.”
At present, a number of existing titles are now available on mobile through the Netflix app. That said, a recent report noted that less than one percent of Netflix subscribers play its games daily.
Still, Netflix is slowly adding social features to its games service, with game handles now available in games like Into The Breach.
Moreover, new job listings spotted last month suggested that Netflix is expanding its gaming offering.
www.eurogamer.net
