Two years after unveiling a new studio aimed at building 'the next big thing in gaming,' Netflix has closed it down
Netflix's big-time gaming ambitions seem to have hit a slippery patch, as Gamefile reports that the internal studio known as Team Blue has been closed.
Team Blue was revealed, without the catchy name, in October 2022, and appeared to signify a real escalation of Netflix's gaming ambitions. The company said in 2021 that its move into gaming would be focused primarily on mobile games, but a year later it was «seriously exploring» cloud gaming and hiring some big names for its second internal studio, including former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny as studio head, former Halo Infinite creative lead Joseph Staten, and former Sony Santa Monica art director Rafael Grassetti.
Mike Verdu, then serving as vice president of gaming at Netflix, said when the studio was announced that «you don't get people like [Sonny] coming to your organisation to build the next big thing in gaming unless there's a sense that we're really in it for the long haul.» Those words, unfortunately, proved to be the opposite of prophetic: The project never saw the light of day and all three executives are no longer with the company, according to the report.
A reason for the closure wasn't provided, but it feels rather sudden. Former Blizzard and Bungie design lead Gavin Irby, who joined the studio in October 2023, shared a job listing for a senior technical designer at the studio on LinkedIn just two months ago.
But there have been some recent changes at the top: Alain Tascan, previously the executive vice president of game development at Epic, joined Netflix in July as its new president of games, while Verdu moved to a new role focusing on «transformative innovation in game creation and development,» whatever that means.
Netflix has had some notable successes with its mobile platform, including the well-regarded Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals and the Grand Theft Auto trilogy, which Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in February was «a resounding success, quickly yielding the highest rate of
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