Netflix has acquired Night School Studio, the indie developer behind games like Oxenfree, Next Stop Nowhere, and the critically acclaimed Mr. Robot mobile game based on the US television show.
It’s a significant move for Netflix, which has been measuredly making its way into the video game space. The company said this year that it considers games a new category for Netflix content, and has dabbled in mobile games and interactive offerings. Netflix launched its own game division in July.
Night School Studio co-founder Sean Krankel shared the news in a blog post, saying that the team’s experience in the world of branching narrative games lines up with what Netflix is looking for in the video game space.
Krankel also wrote that Netflix is the “first studio” to join Netflix, implying that there may be yet more to come. The team apparently has full clearance to finish making Oxenfree II, and will also be cooking up “new game worlds” for the streaming service.
“We truly believe we’ve got a chance to positively impact the way people discover, play, and share story games with each other,” Krankel added.
In its own announcement, Netflix reiterated that games made by Night School Studio will be included in a standard Netflix membership, “all with no ads and no in-app purchases,” the company wrote. (It doesn’t directly say if Oxenfree II is one of those games.)