Netflix Games has appointed a new president: former Epic Games first party development boss Alain Tascan.
Variety got the scoop on the news. Tascan’s appointment means he steps into the shoes of former Netflix Games president Mike Verdu. It was announced last month that Verdu would be stepping sideways into a newly-formed ‘game innovation’ team.
Tascan will report directly to Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters, reports Variety. At Epic Tascan was EVP of game development, and was responsible for first party game development including Fortnite, Lego Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys.
Variety added that Tascan has also previously founded Ubisoft and EA’s Montreal studios. His credits include Army of Two, Need for Speed: Nitro and Batman Vengeance. Tascan was also founder and CEO of Umi Games, the developer of mobile game Family Feud Live, says Variety.
“Alain brings over 30 years of experience in global video game development, production, licensing, and building studios,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said. “He has a passion for making great games and a proven track record of taking bold creative bets. We’re thrilled to have him leading Netflix Games.”
Tascan added: “In an ever-evolving entertainment landscape, Netflix has continually demonstrated an unparalleled ability to innovate and captivate audiences worldwide. I am honored and thrilled to build on the remarkable foundation that the talented games team here has laid, and I firmly believe that Netflix is uniquely positioned to redefine the future of gaming.”
As we suggested in last week’s newsletter, under its new leadership Netflix might be best served focusing more on making games out of its popular movies and shows rather than buying up catalogue mobile titles and porting PC and console games.
Back in May, we revealed the top Netflix game downloads so far, according to Appmagic estimates. And in June, we reported that the three GTA remasters released on Netflix in November 2023 passed 30m downloads combined (again, according to Appmagic estimates).
