Netflix Shuts Down Night School and Moonloot Game Studios

Netflix is reducing the number of internal game studios it owns by closing Los Angeles-based Night School and Helsinki-based Moonloot. Night School was acquired by Netflix in 2021, and Moonloot was founded in Finland in 2022. The closure comes just six weeks after Night School released Unhinged, a thirty-minute first-person horror game that is streamable on televisions for Netflix users. During an investor call, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters praised the game and cited solid player numbers.

Prior to its acquisition, Night School developed the supernatural thriller Oxenfree. The studio later produced a second Oxenfree game and a mobile game tied to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror. Netflix stated that the studio closures are part of an organizational change to focus execution on specific areas. These priorities include kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare, and titles with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game.

In addition to closing the two studios, Netflix is cutting jobs within its internal games team. A company representative declined to specify the total number of jobs lost during these cutbacks. The streaming company started releasing video games as a free bonus to subscribers in 2021. Since then, the organization has altered its strategy, which previously included closing a start-up studio known as Team Blue, shutting down Boss Fight, and selling cozy game developer Spry Fox back to its founders.

Netflix has shifted its gaming focus from mobile-only releases to games offered through televisions and personal computers via streamed connections, using mobile phones as controllers. This approach was utilized for Night School titles alongside games like Boggle and Party Crashers. Following these changes, Netflix maintains its Helsinki-based studio, Next Games, alongside a central gaming team that collaborates with external developers.