Netflix shut down Oxenfree developers just a month and a half after the release of the "very successful game" Unhinged
Netflix confirmed the closure of two of its game studios: Night School Studio and its Helsinki-based Moonloot. The timing makes the news sting even more. Unhinged, the game Night School released on June 30, looked like a hit by every measure. Netflix co-CEO Gregory Peters praised the results during the company's second-quarter earnings call:
FIFA and Unhinged became our two most successful cloud game debuts, really solid numbers that put it in the top tier of game performance for us.
Twenty-eight days later, the studio no longer exists.
Netflix's official statement points to "organizational changes to the business" and a push to be "more focused in our execution" across its key areas: Kids (Netflix Playground), Party (Netflix Minigolf), Narrative (Unhinged) and Mainstream (FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition). Netflix also cut several other roles within its games division without specifying how many.
Night School built its reputation long before joining Netflix. The studio earned wide acclaim for Oxenfree in 2016, followed by Afterparty, then Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals in 2023. That track record convinced Netflix to make its first game studio acquisition back in 2021. At the time, the streaming giant pointed to the team's "bold mission to set a new bar for storytelling in games" and its "commitment to artistic excellence and proven track record" as the main reasons behind the deal.
In practice, Netflix's gaming ambitions have followed a bumpy path. Team Blue, a studio launched with the goal of becoming "the next big thing in gaming," shut down before announcing a single title. The company's vice president of games later switched to vice president of generative AI for games – then left the company entirely a few months after that.
The direction now seems clear. In October 2025, Netflix posted a listing for a Director of Generative AI for Games, with a starting salary of up to $840,000 plus benefits. Netflix's gaming future increasingly looks tied to artificial intelligence rather than traditional development studios.
