Netflix closes Night School Studio and Moonloot Games – Game News

Netflix has closed two game development studios, Night School Studio and Moonloot Games (headquartered in Helsinki).

Representative of Netflix shared with Game Developer news site, saying that the corporation is also cutting more job positions in its game teams. The number of employees affected has not yet been disclosed.

Netflix acquired Night School Studio in 2021 when entering the gaming market and appointed Mike Verdu as Vice President of game development.

In the 2024 restructuring, Alain Tascan becomes President of Gaming while Mike Verdu moves to Vice President of Generative Artificial Intelligence. Mike Verdu later left Netflix in March 2025.

Night School Studio has released its latest game Unhinged 6 weeks ago. This studio is best known for its games Oxenfree released in 2016 and the sequel Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals released in 2023.

Last February, Night School Studio cut its workforce by an undisclosed amount. Reports indicate that these cuts do not affect games currently in development.

Netflix recently noted Unhinged (developed by Night School Studio) is one of the company’s most successful cloud gaming launches, along with FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition by Refactor Games. Refactor Games, a unit partly owned by Delphi Interactive, cut its staff by 85% earlier this month.

Moonloot Games was founded in 2022 under the leadership of Marko Lastikka. This studio has not announced any projects, but is said to be developing a game with similar gameplay Animal Crossing.

+ Netflix’s new strategic direction

Spokesperson of Netflix shared with news site Game File: “Games continue to be an opportunity for us to expand the diversity of entertainment provided to members. Netflixand we have built a strong foundation in key focus areas. As we continue to prioritize these areas, we see an opportunity to focus more on execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business, to align with those priorities.”

In February 2024, Netflix canceled six game releases to better align its product portfolio with “what members love.” Afterward, Netflix has redefined its gaming strategy around four pillars: casual games, story-based games, party games and children’s games.

Following the global release of Netflix Playground in April, the platform’s dedicated kids mobile app tripled its daily players, resulting in a 600% year-over-year increase in kids’ engagement.

+ Situation of internal production studios

Netflix has acquired, closed or divested from many studios during its transition into the gaming industry. For example, the closure of Team Blue in 2024, followed by Boss Fight in October – the unit was acquired in 2022.

26 employees from Boss Fight established a new studio earlier this year. In December, Netflix sold Spry Fox to the founders of this studio.

There’s also Next Games, okay Netflix acquired in 2022, for about 65 million Euros.

Next Games (based in Helsinki) is currently the only remaining in-house production studio at Netflixin addition to the online movie service’s own game team, which specializes in working with outside developers.