Netflix made its largest acquisition ever last week. The streaming service now owns the Roald Dahl Story Company (RDSC), and thus the rights to some of the most beloved children’s books of all time, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? James and The Giant PeachAnd Matilda. But the streamer isn’t stopping there. This week Netflix revealedNight School Studio, a video game developer best known for its creation of the game “The Game,” has been acquired by the company. Oxenfree.
Netflix shifts its focus to gaming
Netflix announced in July that gaming would be its next frontier. To lead its gaming efforts, the company hired an Oculus executive. This included developing mobile games. Two months later, the company had two. Stranger ThingsThe Netflix app now has games. Although the games are not available in the Netflix app in Poland yet, the initiative was clearly underway.
The acquisition of Night School Studio marks another big step in Netflix’s journey to becoming a force in the industry. Night School Studio is an independent, small studio that has already released four games. Oxenfree is the team’s first and most celebrated release — a fresh take on the old-school adventure game formula with meaningful choices to be made through conversations.
This seems like a great match, especially considering that Netflix subscribers will be able to play games in the Netflix app. Unless Netflix starts making a game controller, you’ll probably be playing its games with a TV remote. Night School makes the kind of games that don’t require complicated button inputs.
Netflix also stated that all games it creates will be included in your Netflix membership. There will be no ads or in app purchases. Netflix allows you to play all the games it creates as long as you pay.
What does the latest Netflix acquisition actually mean?
“Over the last few months, we’ve had countless thoughtful chats about our respective visions for where we see games, storytelling, and our collective opportunity for positive impact somewhere in the middle,”Sean Krankel, Night School founder, said. “Night School wants to stretch our narrative and design aspirations across distinctive, original games with heart. Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people. Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively.”
Night School had announced earlier this year that it was developing a sequel. Oxenfree. Thankfully, this acquisition won’t change the studio’s plans for Lost Signals from Oxenfree.