Despite a recent report that only 1 percent of the Netflix user base takes advantage of the gaming section of the platform, that hasn’t stopped the company from attempting to expand its gaming department, as it has been revealed that a new gaming studio in Helsinki, Finland. The announcement comes straight from Netflix on their official website, as Amir Rahimi, VP of Netflix Game Studios, released the following statement:
Today, I’m excited to announce that we are establishing an internal games studio in Helsinki, Finland, with Marko Lastikka as the studio director. 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.
Rahimi went on to explain that the reason for building a new studio in Finland as not only was it home to “the best game talent in the world,” but it will be located near Next Games, the studio behind Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, which Netflix acquired last year.
Along with Next Games, Netflix has also purchased other small studios, including Boss Fight Entertainment and Night School Studios, best known for producing the 2016 indie darling Oxenfree. It’ll be interesting to see how much this new studio helps the platform push gaming content, so be sure to check back to the site for updates.