LogInNetflix's vice president of gaming Mike Verdu announced that the company opens a new game development studio in Southern California and shared that Netflix is planning to expand into cloud gaming.
Netflix continues to focus on adding more video games to its entertainment subscription, and as part of its strategy, the company has announced a new development studio in Southern California. The new studio was announced by the company's vice president of gaming Mike Verdu at TechCrunch Disrupt.
The new Southern California-based studio will be led by a former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny. It will be the fifth Netflix gaming studio and the second studio built from scratch, following the Helsinki-based studio led by Zynga Helsinki co-founder Marko Lastikka that was announced last month.
Previously, Netflix also acquired Next Games (Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, The Walking Dead: No Man's Land), Night School Studio (Oxenfree, Afterparty), and Boss Fight Entertainment (Dungeon Boss, myVEGAS Bingo).
Apart from the launch of the new gaming studio, Verdu also spoke about cloud gaming saying that Netflix is "seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering." While he didn't share any specific details, he suggested that it will not be positioned as a standalone platform.
"It’s a value add. We’re not asking you to subscribe as a console replacement,” Verdu said on stage. “It’s a completely different business model," Verdu told TechCrunch. "The hope is over time that it just becomes this very natural way to play games wherever you are."
Verdu also discussed Netflix's slate of games saying that there are currently 14 games in development at its own studios and 35 mobile games are already available on the service. He also shared that Netflix has 55 games "in flight" at the moment including titles based on original IPs like Stranger Things and licensed IPs like Spongebob Squarepants as well as original games.
You can learn more about the news Mike Verdu shared at TechCrunch Disrupt here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.