Netflix announced last month the opening of a second mobile game studio in Helsinki, Finland, as the entertainment company pushes further into gaming. Marko Lastikka, a gaming veteran, is serving 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.
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.
Netflix has now just added ex-Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny to the list of gaming veterans joining Netflix’s fifth studio, which will be located in Southern California. Netflix says it’s also considering launching a cloud gaming service – with its business model “differing from Stadia”.