Netflix continues to expand into the gaming industry. The company has agreed to purchase Finnish Next Games, which is responsible for the development of mobile games based on the TV series “The Walking Dead” and “Very Strange Things”. The takeover will cost Netflix €65 million.
The Walking Dead: Our World
The full terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
It is expected that it will be completed in the second quarter of 2022.
“Next Games has an experienced management team, extensive experience with mobile games based on entertainment franchises, and solid operational capabilities,” commented Michael Verdu, vice president of gaming at Netflix. – “Although we are just starting to engage in games, I am sure that together with Next Games we will be able to form a portfolio of games that will delight our users around the world.”
Also, the CEO of Next Games Teemu Huuhtanen (Teemu Huuhtanen) said that thanks to the deal with Netflix, his company “will rise to a new level in all directions.” What exactly this means, he did not explain.
Next Games opened in 2013. First of all, the company is known for the mobile games Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land and The Walking Dead: Our World. Most likely, upon completion of the deal, they will enter the Netflix library, which currently contains 14 games.
In 2020, Next Games earned €27.2 million in sales. 95% of the amount was accounted for in-game purchases. At the moment, 120 people work in the studio.
Recall that Netflix announced its gaming ambitions in July last year. In September, she bought the first gaming company — Night School Studio, which developed games such as Oxenfree, Afterparty, Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.ipa and Next Stop Nowhere. It was expected that the projects of this studio would also get into the Netflix library, but they are still not there.