Netflix shuts down its Squid Game mobile studio

Netflix has unopen down Boss Fight Entertainment, the workplace down the mobile crippled Squid Game: Unleashed, according to posts from staffers connected LinkedIn.

Netflix acquired Boss Fight in March 2022, with an enforcement saying at the time that the studio’s “extensive acquisition gathering deed games crossed genres volition assistance accelerate our quality to supply Netflix members with large games wherever they privation to play them.” The institution has often touted the occurrence of Squid Game: Unleashed, highlighting how it was the “ #1 Free Action Game successful 107 countries upon release” and co-CEO Greg Peters pointing to Unleashed during this week’s net call arsenic an illustration of the types of communicative games based connected its ain franchises that it wants to bash much of.

But implicit 3 years aft the acquisition and immoderate changes to Netflix’s gaming strategy, Boss Fight has been closed. Netflix declined to comment.

“Hi everyone – well, connection has gotten astir rapidly astir Boss Fight’s closure,” Boss Fight co-founder and erstwhile CEO David Rippy said. “Thanks, everyone who reached retired today. Rough news, for sure, but I’m precise grateful for the clip we had astatine Netflix.”

“After 10+ large years moving astatine Boss Fight, the past fewer arsenic portion of Netflix, the clip has travel for the workplace to adjacent down,” David Luehmann, a manager of crippled improvement astatine the studio, said successful a post. “I americium precise arrogant of each the people, work, and games we’ve released. I privation you could spot what we had cooking!”

The shutdown follows persistent layoffs crossed the industry, including cut jobs astatine Dune: Awakening developer Funcom contempt that game’s occurrence and layoffs astatine Cloud Chamber, the workplace making the adjacent rubric successful the BioShock franchise.

Last year, Netflix closed its AAA crippled workplace before it ever released a game. Netflix’s adjacent large gaming inaugural is focused astir enactment games you tin play connected your TV using your telephone arsenic a controller, and Peters said this week that the institution is ‘judiciously’ expanding into interactive experiences.