Netflix announces the opening of a second mobile game studio in Helsinki, Finland, as the entertainment company pushes further into gaming. Marko Lastikka, a gaming veteran, will serve as the studio director for the new Netflix Gaming studio. Game veteran Mike Verdu started the Netflix Gaming expansion in mid-2021 as part of a plan to offer more entertainment to Netflix’s subscribers.
Lastikka is known for his work as general manager and executive producer at EA as well as for almost nine years working with Digital Chocolate. He was responsible for the creation and live service operations of Simcity Buildit during his time at EA as well as working on Farmville 3 in his current role at Zynga.
Amir Rahimi, vice president of game studios at Netflix, stated: “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.”
Rahimi said Netflix chose Helsinki, where it has already acquired the mobile game studio Next Games “because it is home to some of the best game talents in the world” – studios such as Supercell and Rovio.
