Netflix has announced it is all set to create an internal game development studio in Helsinki, Finland. Marko Lastikka, Zynga’s vice president, will head the studio as its director.
Netflix’s recent online statement says, “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.”
Netflix further explains that Helsinki has the best game development skills in the world, and it will be the first time a studio will start from scratch in the city. In addition, Netflix has another studio, Next Games, in Helsinki.
“It’s still early days, and we have much more work to do to deliver a great games experience on Netflix. Creating a game can take years, so I’m proud to see how we’re steadily building the foundation of our games studios in our first year. I look forward to sharing what we produce in the coming years.”
Adding Boss Fight Entertainment and Night School Studio to Netflix’s existing three game development studios will bring the total to four. Subscribers can currently play the Netflix version of Night School Studio’s Oxenfree on the service. Additionally, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals was put off until 2023 to include more localizations.
