TIL Netflix had a game studio.
Netflix has closed its AAA gaming studio
Submitted 3 weeks ago by AmbiguousProps@lemmy.today to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/netflix-has-closed-its-aaa-gaming-studio-133014946.html
Comments
nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
alphacyberranger@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The first time I heard about it was when it opened. The second time I’m hearing about it, is when is closed.
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
That’s one better than me then.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
First I’ve heard of it.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
And nothing of value was lost.
SouravSatvaya@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They had a AAA gaming studio? I must have been living under a rock.
hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Same rock here.
Evotech@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I’m sure you didn’t know that you can play games in Netflix either :p
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
You can play games on YouTube apparently as well now.
Crashumbc@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
An attempt was made. Movies like Bright with famous actors and big budgets.
remotelove@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
It should have been AAAAA. That is where they fucked up.
Or, they fucked up thinking that people wanting to watch movies wanted to play games…
Letstakealook@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Wasn’t it all mobile games? I’m pretty sure that was the exact market they were looking for. People with short attention spans that can’t put down the phone, even while consuming other media.
remotelove@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I just ignored all the ads and any news, so you are likely correct. I did think that most of the games were mobile, but I must have been mistaken in thinking it was playable on Netflix clients on your TV or something.
I used to play Pac-Man on my old FireTV with the controller while I was killing time in the mornings before work, so I thought it was similar in that regard.
slaacaa@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Based on the article: the AAA thing was supposed to be something new/different, but they dlosed it before releasing anything. I also haven’t tried the mobile games, but they should be still available, that is done by a different team
ddplf@szmer.info 3 weeks ago
Or, they fucked up thinking that people wanting to watch movies wanted to play games…
true gamers dont watch movies 😡😡😡😡🤬🤬
og movie freaks dont play vidya 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮
Ibaudia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
For those saying they didn’t know about this, it’s because they never actually released anything. They got shut down unexpectedly before they finished any projects. Allegedly there are still some in-development games based on Netflix properties that will still be released on their gaming service, and the service itself will stay up. It’s just the studio itself that was shut down.
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Why even join a new studio now if the owners randomly shutter them after - checks notes - the best financial quarter ever ?
RedditWanderer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Because it was a pandemic fueled rush. Everyone thought gaming was the best bet because we’re all at home. Companies like meta, Microsoft etc… grew astronomically on tax payer subsidies making it even better money. Other companies tried to invest or spin up game divisions.
Now the party is over, it doesn’t even matter if these games are good or have potential. They put the sunk cost in the “pandemic’s fault” spreadsheet, and take all the liabilities and costs from the expense spreadsheet. It looks fantastic on paper to investors, the real numbers dont really matter.
z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Well, they produced Oxenfree 2 which was a welcome sequel that I enjoyed. But other than that, I didn’t really hear about anything else from them.
n3cr0@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Was it a AAA game? How can it be this unknown when it was AAA?
Ibaudia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Not really AAA at all, no.
hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Oxenfree 2 is out? I need to take a look. Thanks.
ryven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Was that this studio, or their other studio that’s been running since 2017? This one, “Team Blue,” was supposed to be working on some unannounced AAA game.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
what does the speedometer do in oxenfree 2? just curious
hsdkfr734r@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
You know. In ancient times, they had radios with tuners - and scales for visual feedback. In the game, they use it as a plot device for the communication with other… planes of reality?
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It wasn’t a terrible idea, but I’m not surprised that it failed
elrik@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If only this meant the removal of the annoying tiles for games that show up in the app above everything else (often using up the entire screen) even though I’ve never tapped on them once.
I don’t want your games Netflix. I barely want your shows.
P4ulin_Kbana@lemmy.eco.br 2 weeks ago
They why are you using it?
falkerie71@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I hope Halo can use this opportunity to invite Joe Staten back on board. Their Creative Director opening on LinkedIn was closed recently, but who they actually hired we don’t know.
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
If any of the current developers played any of the old games it would be an improvement. What on Earth were they doing with that open world thing, it was so boring, if it had a story it got completely lost.
falkerie71@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
You know, looking at reports, I definitely think that it was an idea that was executed badly for reasons that were not just because of the open world concept. Maybe if they had developed a better engine that offloaded the tech debt they had for so long, or if their hiring practices weren’t on 18 month contracts, or if they had a better vision in the game direction, etc., the game wouldn’t have ended up in this place, and the open world might have worked out, and they didn’t have to cut so much from the game. But asking what ifs is no use, the game in the end still left much to be desired.
I share the same opinion as you, that the story in Infinite did not really satisfy me. But it still got some positive responses to it and some people liked it, and I’m happy for them. The open world concept in Infinite is inspired by the semi open world map in Halo 1 like Arriving on Halo, art direction is inspired by Bungie Halo but much more polished, and lots of story pieces are referenced from old Halo games or extended universe materials. So saying that the devs did not do their homework is kinda unfair, imo. For that, the Halo TV show by Paramount takes the crown of disregarding original materials (or even the basic concept, even).
There’s a pretty good video essay on YT that goes more in depth into what 343 did right for Infinite’s story, I’ll link it here. Although 1 hour long, I highly recommend giving it a watch. His Halo 4 retrospective video is pretty good too.
I definitely still prefer a concentrated and linear story line, though. Like watching a movie or a TV show, I want to be on the ride that the game designers intended. Not saying that open world games can’t deliver the same experience, but linear games have the advantage of having more control of the story beats in the game. I guess we’ll see what the new leadership would bring.
makeitwonderful@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
I’ve had a lot of fun with the content they added for Into the Breach.
fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Darn. They made that choose your own adventure thing on Netflix right?
Zron@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I remember doing the bear grills one, and one of the choices was to jump over a ravine, or walk over it using a fallen tree as a bridge.
Being the hiker I am, the obvious choice of walk around it being missing kind of annoyed me, but I chose the tree option.
Bear died.
So I got to go back and pick the jump over option, which was apparently the right one.
Who the fuck does running jumps over a 15 foot deep ravine.
I never bothered with the choose your own adventure things again. When the correct choice is just not available and the next logical choice just means an instant loss, you don’t have a very fun game
mox@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
They had one?