Netflix has opened its own internal mobile games studio, in a further sign that it means business in the gaming space.
The streaming giant has announced that its is establishing an internal games studio in Helsinki, Finland. Marko Lastikka, formerly of Zynga, has been tasked with heading up the studio.
“This is another step in our vision to build a world-class games studio that will bring a variety of delightful and deeply engaging original games — with no ads and no in-app purchases — to our hundreds of millions of members around the world,” said Netflix VP of Game Studios Amir Rahimi.
Helsinki is a key city in the development of the multi-billion dollar mobile gaming industry. It’s the home of Angry Birds developer Rovio, while the grandaddy of mobile gaming Nokia is based close by in Espoo.
Netflix itself already owns a games studio in the city, having bought Next Games earlier in the year.
The streaming company also bought American developer Night School Studio, which previously made indie hit Oxenfree, in 2021. In early 2022, Netflix acquired Texas-based casual game outfit Boss Fight Entertainment.
While this latest announcement marks the fourth games studio to fall under the Netflix banner, it’s the first to have been started up from scratch.
The company branched out into gaming with the launch of Netflix Games back in November 2021. Netflix subscribers can download and play ad-free games on their phones through the Netflix app.
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