Netflix recently took its second step towards gaming with the acquisition of Night School Studio, the indie game developer known for narrative titles such as “Oxenfree”. This makes it the first game studio the streaming giant has bought. Here are all the details.
Netflix and gaming: purchased Night School Studio
In Netflix’s announcement, the Vice President of Game Development Mike Verdu, wrote that “Night School’s commitment to artistic excellence and proven track record make them invaluable partners as we build the creative skills and Netflix game library together.”
Verdu also added that Netflix plans to add “exclusive games designed for all types of players and all levels of play”. Additionally, all of these games, according to Verdu, will have no “ads or in-app purchases.”
Night School Studio was founded in 2014 by Sean Krankel, a former senior game designer from Disney Interactive, e Adam Hines, one of the leading writers of Telltale Games.
In a statement on the Night School website, Krankel wrote:
Netflix gives film, TV and game hour creators an unprecedented canvas for creating and delivering excellent entertainment to millions of people. Our explorations into narrative gameplay and Netflix’s experience of supporting different storytellers have been a natural match.
For fans of Oxenfree and other Night School titles, Krankel reassured that will continue to work on Oxenfree II. He also wanted to emphasize that he will not stop “creating new game worlds”. Sean Krankel also added: “The Netflix team has shown the utmost care in protecting our studio culture and creative vision.”
News of the acquisition comes less than a day after official launch of three new casual games for smartphones by Netflix.
In Netflix’s second-quarter letter to shareholders, the company revealed that it is in the early stages of exploration of his game model, and sees this section as another content category, such as its original movies, animation and reality TV shows.
Before working on mobile games, Netflix first ventured into interactive storytelling four years ago when it launched children’s shows in style “Choose your adventure”. The following year, he brought the format to adult viewer content with the episode “Bandersnatch” of Black Mirror. Since then, he has added other interactive shows such as “Minecraft: Story Mode” and “Emily’s Wonder Lab”.