Online streaming giant Netflix has announced that it will be opening an internal video game studio in Helsinki, Finland, as it aims to reduce its reliance on third-party developers and expand its gaming offerings.
According to a statement released by Netflix, the new game studio will be headed by Marko Lastikka, who has worked at Zynga Inc. for five years, where he worked on FarmVille 3.
Before joining Zynga, Lastikka was the co-founder and executive producer at Electronic Arts Inc.’s Tracktwenty studio in Helsinki, according to his LinkedIn page.
In March, Netflix announced that it was buying Finland-based mobile game developer Next Games in a deal that amounted to $72 million.
The new studio in Finland will be Netflix’s fourth games studio. Earlier this year, Netflix had bought Boss Fight Entertainment, having purchased Night School Studio in September 2021.
“Why Helsinki? It is home to some of the best game talents in the world. This will be a games studio that we build from scratch, and our second games studio in Helsinki alongside Next Games, which became part of Netflix earlier this year,” said Amir Rahimi, vice-president of Netflix Game Studios, in a statement.
He added: “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.”
Netflix currently has 31 video games on its platform exclusively offered to its customers. The online streaming giant is planning to have 50 games available by the end of the year, according to a Bloomberg report.
One of the most-anticipated games from Netflix that will be released soon is Stranger Things: Puzzle Games, based on the platform’s hit series.
Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2170391/business-economy
