By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
American online film streaming giant, Netflix, has acquired its first video game studio, California-based Night School Studio, which created the paranormal thriller game Oxenfree.
This is coming after the company, in July, indicated an interest in expanding its footprint into video games as a result of the slow growth experienced in the streaming industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has been said earlier that it was in the early stages of expanding its video game offerings which will first focus primarily on mobile games and would be available to subscribers at no extra charge.
Announcing the acquisition on Tuesday, the company said that Night School is seen as an invaluable partner in building out the creative capabilities and library of Netflix games as a result of their artistic excellence and proven track record.
The co-founder of Night School, Mr Sean Krankel, remarked that, “Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people. There’s a kaleidoscope of butterflies in our team’s collective stomachs.”
Mr Krankel expressed excitement about the development, adding that it was “a surreal honour” to be the first game developer to join Netflix.
In addition, the streaming company also announced that it had has hired a video game veteran, Mr Mike Verdu, to lead its gaming team.
For the record, Mr Verdu is a seasoned mobile gaming and PC gaming veteran who took a role at one of the largest social media platform, Facebook’s leading Augmented reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) content.