Netflix has made an offer to acquire Next Games, the Finnish game developer behind Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales.
” The acquisition is to help the company build a library of great games for our members to enjoy, ” Mike Verdo, Vice President of Games at Netflix, said in a blog post. Next Games has also developed a pair of Walking Dead mobile games.
The acquisition comes as Netflix is building a mobile gaming service into its regular subscription service. Netflix Games were launched on iOS and Android last year.
Netflix Games consists of a few mobile games available for free download from app stores to subscribers of the service, without ads or in-app purchases.
“As we are just getting started with gaming, I am confident that with Next Games we will be able to build a portfolio of world-class games that delight our members around the world,” Verdo wrote.
So far, many games have been developed on Netflix Games by third party partners. Its two games are based on the Stranger Things franchise, and both list Texas-based BonusXP as their developer.
Netflix makes €65 million acquisition
Netflix has also licensed the pre-existing Asphalt Xtreme game exclusively to its subscribers. But with the acquisition of Next Games and Night School Studio last year, the streaming giant appears to be hoping to develop more games for its internal service.
Acquisitions are relatively uncommon for the streaming service, with its name associated with only five. But its move to acquire Next Games comes as companies such as Microsoft and Sony are making major acquisitions of developers, which are widely seen as a way to build their own gaming subscription services.
Netflix is offering to acquire Next Games for 65 million euros (about $72 million). The offer is equivalent to €2.1 in cash per share, which is more than double the closing price of €0.93. As a result, the Next Games Board of Directors has recommended that shareholders accept the offer.
The companies expect the deal to be completed in the second quarter of 2022. Next Games had up to 120 employees at the end of 2021.
Its latest annual results also showed €27.2 million in revenue for 2020. About 95 percent of its sales came from in-game purchases that year.
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