Netflix shuts down its AAA studio led by former Overwatch, Halo, and GoW devs amid layoffs in its gaming division
Netflix has reportedly closed its in-house studio focused on AAA games. The team, made up of industry veterans, has been disbanded after two years.
A Southern California studio known as Team Blue has been shuttered by Netflix, according to a new report by Game File.
It opened its doors in 2022, with former Overwatch producer Chacko Sonny named as its head. The company has hired several other experienced developers over the past two years, including:
- Creative director Joseph Staten — former creative lead at 343 Industries, who has worked in game development for more than 20 years on games like Oni, Halo 1-2, Halo Reach, and Destiny;
- Art director Rafael Grassetti — former art director at Santa Monica Studio, whose portfolio includes titles like God of War (2018), Mass Effect 3, and Assassin’s Creed Origins.
Although all three of them still list Netflix as their place of work, its representative told Totilo that the executives are no longer work for the company.
Prior to its closure, Team Blue was working on an unannounced multiplatform AAA game that could be played outside of mobile devices.
It is unclear why Netflix decided to shut down the studio, but Business Insider recently reported that the company cut around 35 jobs across its gaming division last week. So Netflix could be moving away from its AAA ambitious amid a shakeup orchestrated by its new video game president Alain Tascan, who took over another industry veteran, Mike Verdu, earlier this year.
In June, Netflix external games VP Leanne Loombe told the Washington Post that the company plans to focus on investing in smaller mobile-first studios.
