Netflix acquires Finnish game company Next Games

Netflix announces to acquire Finnish game company Next Games. The game studio from Helsinki makes mobile games and will also do this for Netflix. Netflix has had its own game service since last year. Next Games will develop games for this.

Netflix announced the acquisition on Tuesday. The streaming service has offered $2.10 per share, according to Next Games, for a total of $65 million in the acquisition. Shareholders have yet to approve the deal.

The takeover does not come out of nowhere. Next Games already developed Stranger Things Puzzle Tales. That game is based on the Stranger Things Netflix series. Netflix has already released a game based on Stranger Things for its game service. Next Games also developed two mobile games based on the HBO series The Walking Dead.

Netflix CEO Michael Verdu hopes with the acquisition to expand the game portfolio of Netflix Games more quickly: “Although we have only just started making games, we are convinced that together with Next Games we can build a world-class game portfolio.”

Netflix Games was introduced last November and is now available for Android and iOS devices. There are currently a dozen games playable via the games section of the streaming service. Unlike the series and movies, you don’t stream the games. You need to install it on your smartphone or tablet.