Netflix Acquires Its Third Video Game Developer Within Six Months
It made perfect sense when Netflix declared its intention to acquire Next Games at the beginning of March 2022. Next Games is a mobile developer that creates games based on popular TV shows like Stranger Things or The Walking Dead.
The company previously announced the acquisition of Oxenfreedeveloper Night School Studio in September 2021. It didn’t initially seem like a natural union, but it became clearer as you looked deeper. The studio created a mobile game in 2016 to connect with the Amazon Prime drama Mr Robot. The pieces began to fall into place. Now that Netflix has bought its third studio within six months, our curiosity about interactive projects has been piqued.
According to GamesRadar+ Netflix has purchased Boss Fight Entertainment. This is another mobile developer. Last year, the company stated to investors that it plans to focus its expansion on the mobile market and include mobile games in its subscription packages. It released the following statement:
“We see gaming as a new content category, similar to our expansion into animation and original films. Members will get games in their Netflix subscription for no extra cost, just like films and series.
Netflix recently announced that three games, one PlayStation 3 and one mobile were now available to subscribers. This announcement comes shortly after Netflix announced yet another price increase for all tiers of its streaming service. It claims that the price increase is necessary to enable Netflix to “bring more” to its customers.
If you love mobile games, this is great news. The new titles will not include microtransactions, ads, or add-ons. They will be available as part of the subscription service and not through the free-to-play model. Boss Fight founders stated in a statement posted on Netflix’s website:
“Netflix’s promise to provide ad-free video games as part of their members’ subscriptions allows game developers like ourselves to concentrate on creating enjoyable gameplay without worrying too much about monetization. We couldn’t have been more excited to join Netflix in this early stage. This allows us to continue doing what we love while shaping the future of video games on Netflix.
Analysts have said that subscriptions are not the future of gaming. We are curious if this strategy will succeed. It is a strange combination, but I admit that playing mobile games and watching Bridgerton seems like a perfect match.
