You know how Netflix have been getting into the video game business recently? Starting by acquiring Oxenfree developer Night School Studio in September 2021? Well, it looks like they’re stepping up their game here (literally) by expanding their video game empire with the developer of Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales.
Netflix: The Mobile Game Publisher?
Next Games, developer of the mobile game Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, has just announced that Netflix has entered into a combination agreement to acquire them. Netflix will all issued and outstanding shares of Next Games at €2.10 EUR in cash per share, for a total sum of €65 million EUR. For us Americans, that’s just over $72.3 million USD as of this writing. So yeah, that’s a lot of money for Netflix to throw around. It’s no wonder that the Board of Directors of Next Games eagerly and unanimously accepted the offer.
“Joining forces with the world’s largest streaming service, Netflix, presents an opportunity for a logical and exciting continuation of our strategy to craft interactive experiences for the world to enjoy. Our close collaboration with Netflix on Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales has already proven that together we create a strong partnership. This is a unique opportunity to level-up the studio on all fronts and continue on our mission together.”
Teemu Huuhtanen, Chief Executive Officer, Next Games
Next Games: Details
Next Games is a Finnish video game developer that has thus far only made mobile games. In fact, according to their website, they only made 3 games in total: the aforementioned Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, The Walking Dead: Our World, and The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land. All 3 of them are mobile games hitchhiking on the backs of popular franchises for sales. However, they seem to show a surprising amount of quality despite their mobile game status. The first game is a match-3 puzzle game, the second is a first-person shooter game, and the third is a strategy game. The graphics are merely decent, but the gameplay seems promisingly complex.
And now that Next Games has Netflix money behind them, who knows what else they can achieve? Tune in later to find out if they can move beyond the mobile gaming world with that money.
Source: Next Games, Next Games
