OVER the last few years Netflix has been expanding its gaming sector and adding more games to its entertainment library.
Netflix subscribers have access to almost a hundred mobile games as part of their standard subscription package.
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The company has tried to expand its gaming library by making games based on popular Netflix series and creating Netflix exclusive games.
This expansion included purchasing a number of studios, with Netflix expanding its portfolio over the last few years.
According to a report by Stephen Totilo, Netflix has now closed down one of its triple-A studios before it even released a game.
Team Blue was established by Netflix games, and was led by former Overwatch producer Chacko Sonny.
Sonny recruited a number of big-name developers including former Halo creative lead Joseph Staten.
Staten joined Team Blue in 2023 and was to be the creative director for the studio’s debut title.
It was to be a triple-A multiplatform game based on a completely new IP. Job listings that appeared last year showed that it was to be a third-person action RPG.
Rafael Grassetti, former art director at God of War’s Sony Santa Monica Studios, is also affected by the studio’s reported closure.
Currently it’s unclear just how many staff will be impacted or laid off due to these changes.
Back in January 2023, Netflix offered salaries of up to half a million dollars for positions in Team Blue shortly after the studio opened.
According to Totilo Netflix is not backing down from its ambitious video game strategy, but new leadership for Netflix Games intends to shake up the strategy.
We never learned what game Team Blue was cooking up, and now we likely never will.
Flickering lights
Unfortunately, this is far from the only time that a studio has been closed before a game has been released.
Many of these studio closures we never even hear about, but Team Blue’s public announcement makes it feel like Netflix had high hopes for the team.
However, we never know what went on behind closed doors, and the reason for the studio’s closure will likely never be released.
Usually gaming projects fail because studios can’t figure out how to make a game work, or because there is too much meddling from executives higher up.
Hopefully, it was just a failed idea, rather than a deeper structural problem with the business.
If you want to read more about Netflix Games, check out some of the most recent games added to Netflix.
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