Netflix has disclosed plans to establish its own video game studio in Helsinki, Finland and it will be led by former Zynga and Electronic Arts executive Marko Lastikka. The video streaming platform had previously purchased small gaming companies, such as Oxenfree developer Night School Studio.
In April, The video streaming announced a loss of 200,000 subscribers, its first quarterly loss since 2011. Its share price dropped by 35%, wiping more than $50bn (£46.5bn) off the firm’s market value.
The firm then lost almost a million subscribers between April and July 2022, the biggest in its history, though it still has more than 220m subscribers worldwide.
Netflix purchased Helsinki-based Next Games in March 2022. It already had a working relationship with the game developer, which made a mobile game based on the Netflix hit series, Stranger Things.
Netflix has had a growing interest in the gaming industry in recent years. It has released several series based on games, such as Arcane (based on League of Legends) and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (based on Cyberpunk: 2077).
The company is also working closely with Ubisoft, which will see both a live-action Assassin’s Creed television series developed, and a Netflix-exclusive mobile game.
If the firm is able to pull its gaming plans off, it will send strong signals to other gaming powerhouses and this move would probably establish itself in the gaming industry.
