Netflix is sticking with video games but once again reducing the number of studios it owns making games.
The streaming giant is closing Los Angeles-based Night School studio, which it acquired in 2021 and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot, which was founded in 2022.
Just six weeks ago, Night School had released Unhinged, a novel 30-minute first-person horror game, streamable on TVs to Netflix users. The game was hailed by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in a call with investors, citing “really solid numbers.”
Six weeks later, Night School is closing.
Prior to its Netflix tenure, Night School had developed the award-winning supernatural thriller Oxenfree. A second Oxenfree game followed after the purchase, as well as a mobile game designed to tie in to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror.
Netflix attributed the studio closures to a prioritization around kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game.
“We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities,” a Netflix spokesperson told Game File.
Oh shit the Oxenfree studio is getting closed? Did it ever even get an Xbox release. The economics of gaming keeps getting more and more brutal.
First one, yes. Second, no.
I loved Oxenfree. I had to buy 2 on Switch.
Another studio’s talent wasted.
Ah, the ones who released Oxenfree 2 on everything but Xbox? Cool, I will skip the tears then.
I mean it’s not like the studio gets a choice. That’s on the publisher. The same publisher whose now closing them. I remember the rumor being that Netflix saw Xbox as competition, but not the other consoles, due to the popularity of Game Pass as a subscription service. I don’t know if that’s true, but whatever the case Netflix bought them to build up their unique offering and get a foothold in gaming, and then they didn’t maximize the sales potential of the studio and then closed them citing poor sales and wanting to focus on bigger games & franchises. That’s pretty tragic to me. They bought a studio, forced the studio to release their game on less platforms, and now are complaining that the numbers don’t add up. It’s even more tragic cuz Netflix had them work on companion games like a Black Mirror horror side piece. I don’t think Netflix even knows what they want because they said the focus is “kids games, party games, mainstream games” but literally anyone can make that. They shouldn’t need to close a studio for those types of casual games. It seems like they were screwed the moment Netflix bought them.