The Helsinki based game studio, Next Games, has been purchased by Netflix.
The streaming giant paid $72.3 million (R1,1 billion) to acquire all outstanding shares for Next Games, pending the standard closing conditions.
The Next Games’ Board of Directors unanimously signed off on the deal, showing their support for the acquisition.
Mike Verdu, VP of games and game development at Netflix, commented that Next Games has a “strong track record” as well as “solid operational capabilities” and that the acquisition was also geographically motivated as the European market is a “strategic region and key talent market.”
“Joining forces with the world’s largest streaming service, Netflix, presents an opportunity for a logical and exciting continuation of our strategy to craft interactive experiences for the world to enjoy,” said Next games founder and CEO Teemu Huuhtanen.
Next Games was founded in 2013 and produced Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales as well as The Walking Dead: Our World and The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land – both titles based on AMC’s popular zombie show The Walking Dead.
This acquisition comes after Netflix’s 2021 purchase of Night School Studio – the developer behind Oxenfree – and indicates that the streaming service is serious about games development.