Netflix Closes Night School Studio Five Years After Acquisition
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Netflix is shutting down Night School Studio and Moonloot alongside internal layoffs, just five years after acquiring the Oxenfree developer.
Netflix is shutting down Night School Studio, the developer behind Oxenfree, exactly five years after making them the company's first internal studio acquisition. According to a report from Game File, the streaming giant is also shuttering Moonloot, another studio under its umbrella that had yet to release a project. The closures arrive just six weeks after Night School launched its Netflix exclusive title, Unhinged, and include a wave of layoffs across the company's internal games division. A Netflix spokesperson framed the decision as a strategic shift toward a more focused execution, though the cuts reportedly included the team's sole accessibility staffer.
This move highlights the ongoing friction traditional entertainment companies face when trying to build sustainable game development pipelines. Netflix entered the gaming space with significant ambition, acquiring multiple studios and rolling out mobile titles as part of standard subscriptions. However, the company has steadily rolled back its internal development efforts over the past couple of years, closing high profile teams like the Southern California studio led by industry veterans. When major corporations treat game development as a supplementary perk rather than a core discipline, studio closures often follow the moment executive priorities shift.
The loss of Night School Studio is a particularly tough blow for players who appreciated their distinct approach to narrative adventure and dialogue systems. While Netflix continues to insist that games remain a key part of its entertainment strategy, the repeated shuttering of studios tells a very different story to the player community. As digital libraries and subscriptions dictate how many modern gamers discover new titles, this situation serves as another reminder of the vulnerability of developer teams operating inside large non-gaming conglomerates. Our thoughts go out to everyone affected by the layoffs at Night School, Moonloot, and the wider Netflix games division.
Tags: Industry News, Netflix, Game Development, Oxenfree
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun