Netflix Shutters AAA Video Game Studio

The Southern California division, known internally as ‘Team Blue,’ boasted high-powered execs Chacko Sonny, Joseph Staten, and Rafael Grassetti, who have now exited; the sole internal studio headquartered in Helsinki will remain.

Netflix has shuttered its AAA video game studio in Southern California for undisclosed reasons, although sources point to a disinterest in pursuing PC/console-specific game development, according to Variety. The division, known internally as “Team Blue,” boasted the high powered execs Chacko Sonny (Overwatch), Joseph Staten (Halo), and Rafael Grassetti (God of War), who have now exited.

Since expanding into the games sector in 2021, the streaming giant has acquired the gaming studios Night School, Boss Fight, Next Games and Spry Fox. Its sole remaining internal studio is headquartered in Helsinki.

Netflix will continue to create games based on its own IP, upholding the promise to release one new game in its “Netflix Stories” line per month. In addition to its latest release based on Outer Banks, other mobile games include those based on Emily in Paris, Virgin River, and Love Is Blind. Planned standalone mobile titles include those set in the universes of Squid Game and Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon.