A new challenger has entered the ring: Netflix has acquired Oxenfree developer Night School Studio. Don’t worry, though, work will continue on the sequel, set to release on the PlayStation 5 and PS4 next year. “Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people,” the developer said. “Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing.”
Netflix recently revealed its intent to infiltrate the games industry as it seeks to find ways to both expand its audience and, perhaps crucially, retain the millions upon millions of members it picked up during the pandemic. One of the ways it intends to do this is to offer smartphone games to its subscribers.
“We’ll continue working with developers around the world and hiring the best talent in the industry to deliver a great collection of exclusive games designed for every kind of gamer and any level of play,” said Netflix’s Mike Verdu. “Like our shows and films, these games will all be included as part of your Netflix membership – all with no ads and no in-app purchases. Stay tuned for more.”
The acquisition wars rumble on…
[source nightschoolstudio.com, via about.netflix.com]
Comments 26
If this means we get more Oxenfree then i’m all for it.
Absolutely loved the first game, can’t wait for Lost Signals 🙌🏻
Video games are going the way of the video media it seems.
Everyone has the rights and exclusivity to various things fragmenting the market and making things just worse until someone comes along and starts Disneying it.
Stadia, Amazon, Steam, Epic Games, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony now Netflix too.
Want game X? Subscribe to Netflix. Want game Y? Xbox bought it for a year. Want game Z? Sony exclusive. Want it on your PC? Epic only.
Probably not a good sign. Streaming wars has absolutely ruined the TV landscape, making it impossible to realistically see all you want to without piracy.
This is nice, but at the same time, I worry that games will turn into tv subscriptions.
Good to see a indie studio get some funding though, Oxenfree is a very good game.
Watch Netflix is going to turn into a TV show.
If it means I get free PS4/5 games with a Netflix subscription, then sounds good.
If it means free bloatware for my phone with a Netflix subscription, then count me out.
At present, the video game industry isn't nearly as bad as the movie industry, but it will continue to consolidate.
I'm not optimistic. I expect something disgusting like Tencent buying Valve to happen in a year.
One thing Netflix should have done was stop letting everyone have their own streaming channel. Seriously Netflix is crap now that they don't have and agreements with studios like Disney, Universal etc.
Not going to spout any doom and gloom here unless Netflix buys a big studio. For better or worse, the acquisitions from Sony and Microsoft have made sense for the most part. If any party buys a huge entity and it’s weird and doesn’t make sense from a prior working business relationship sense, that’s when we can sound the whistles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the few people that still buys movies just so I can watch what I want because I dislike what streaming does to our freedom to watch things, but keep in mind too that streaming has also made entertainment more accessible and diverse. There’s good and bad in it. All futures are an uncertain double edged sword, after all. We all just need to be wise enough to wield the sword instead of letting it hack carelessly.
If this can help a quality indie developer thrive, this could be an interesting development for their future games. I really liked Oxenfree and would be interested in what will be coming next from them with the sudden boatloads of cash that will no doubt be infused in on the studio.
I'm down for offering a different take than the others here. Netflix has revolutionized the way that I watch TV. I don't only watch Netflix, but I am paying a lot less money now for my 3 streaming services than I was spending on cable 8 years ago. Oh and the video and audio quality is wayyyy better. And the content. Shows are so much better now than they were, and it keeps getting better. No commercials (mostly). Bring Netflix gaming the F on, I'm exciting to see what they can do.
I can imagine Netflix wanting the studio to make a stranger things game.
I despise the Netflix model for the way it has destroyed TV series; they’ve openly admitted to dropping even popular shows after a season or two simply because they want to concentrate funds on new shows as they know this drives new subscriptions.
However, gaming may be a better fit. I see that they are more likely to invest in smaller and mid sized games, which the industry desperately needs. Unlike TV shows, which can tell a deeper story with a longer run, I’m not a big fan of episodic games or long running franchises, as gameplay often becomes stale with repetition.
As long as micro transactions stay out of the subscription I’m OK with this in the industry.
I likely won’t t play the games because there are no PSN trophies and I have a million game backlog, but I don’t see this as a bad thing.
Still annoyed at the Dark Crystal series getting axed after 1 season,whilst other so-so shows & rubbish reboots seem to be a thing on it...can't see this as a positive regarding future console/PS releases beyond Oxenfree II,& seeing one of the few Netflix published efforts getting delisted off PSN!😕
@Jacko11 On mobile in the future so ***** that.
@nessisonett perhaps, but on the other side of the coin the streaming wars have been a wonder for the TV production industry. I'm an editor and there is a glut of work out there for quality drama. So, it may not be perfect for consumers, but streaming wars could be boon for video game production and those who work in it. Hopefully it would equate to better working conditions as talent becomes more scarce
This may not be as bad as people fear. Dont Sony and Netflix have some agreement too over Sony pictures. Not hard to see that extending to Sony publishing efforts from its ForwardWorks studio on netflix, in return for stuff from studios like Night School coming to Playstation.
@Flaming_Kaiser yeah I seemed to miss that part, **** that indeed
@nessisonett disagree that streaming services have made things worse...it's opened us to so many more options. If it does that for games then yeah they'll be all over the place...the difference is you won't be paying £70 a pop. You'll pay a one off monthly fee if you choose to. And because they'll be more services they'll be more gambles being made to bring unique things to those services...rather than just investing in safe bets. Look at what's currently trending on Netflix right now. Squid game?...would you have gotten to see things like that on terrestrial TV? Probably not.
Piracy is always going to be a problem. You would think streaming data would prevent some of that? But regardless...it could me we get more unique games, more risks taken. That's what I hope anyway.
This is quite the coop for Netflix. It's obvious the direction they're going in with their gaming though...least at the start. Indies will be the focus. If it takes off then we'll see bigger investments. They just need to nail the pricing.
@Jacko11 Its such a pity that such a great gamedeveloper will be used as a mobile gamedeveloper what a waste.... ☹️
@Flaming_Kaiser especially this team, Oxenfree is such a overlooked gem of a game 😭
@Bleachedsmiles Streaming didnt do anything to make it better it only devalued games. No more owning your product no more preservation of games. And the ***** about more risks made services i dont believe thar but its easy shove it full of MT and with no ownership its even easier to kill it off. Its just as easy as FIFA but without the annoying part that you can still keep playing it. 🤪
@Flaming_Kaiser Streaming hasn't done anything to 'devalue games' yet. You're already playing games that need online connections to work. Need day one patches. Need months/years worth of patches. Need licencing to your profile. Already come with microtransactions and loot boxes... Streaming hasn't done that.
Streaming may end up being worse for games. Or it may open up gaming to more choice and investment if there's more competition (that's generally how it goes). More deals to benefit you the consumer. Not tieing you to an 'ecosystem'.
Or streaming may make nobody money and fail completely...in which case gaming is not suddenly going to disappear.
@Haruki_NLI Wasn't it always like that ? PS,Xbox,PC and Nintendo exclusives were always a thing. And back then when it was a PS or XBOX exclusive there was no hope of getting it on PC either.
@nessisonett I don't think we are there quite yet. If I buy 5 streaming services I equal what I used to pay for cable, and weak cable at that. It is getting closer faster though as more services pop up and all start increasing cost.
Perhaps I should buy this on PSN/eShop/Steam before it turns into a Netflix exclusive?
This studio has like a dozen employees. Whatever Netflix paid for them, they make that much money literally like every 5 minutes. This is a tiny acquisition of a team that, though I like them, have only produced 7/10 games.
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