Netflix backs out of plan to develop blockbuster videogame
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Netflix is giving up on making the videogame equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster and will instead focus on producing casual games going forward. The streaming giant earlier this month pulled the plug on developing its own high-end game—what the industry calls a Triple-A title—less than a year into development, a spokeswoman confirmed.
The company laid off a team of about 30 people in Southern California, including high-profile veterans who worked on franchises such as Microsoft’s Halo and Sony’s God of War. The project was a multiplayer shooter game, according to a person familiar with the matter. Triple-A games are typically made for consoles and gaming computers, and can cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop due to their size, complexity and cinematic quality.
They are also increasingly being created for smartphones and tablets, and the one that Netflix was developing was intended to be played on a smartphone, tablet, TV or personal computer. Netflix has been working on a new app, “Netflix Game Controller," that can turn a smartphone phone into a controller so that games can be played on a TV or computer. The company is testing the app in more than a half-dozen countries, including the U.S., Germany and Mexico.
Netflix could still put Triple-A games from third parties on its platform. Earlier this year the company added three such titles from Take-Two Interactive Software’s Grand Theft Auto series, though they debuted back in the early 2000s. The pivot comes after Netflix in June replaced its head of gaming, Mike Verdu, with Alain Tascan, who was previously executive vice president of development at “Fortnite" maker Epic Games.
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