Netflix Games boss Mike Verdu is stepping aside to set up a new team at the streaming giant focused on “game innovation”.
The news was first reported by gamesindustry.biz, and later confirmed to us by Netflix PR. Verdu is not leaving the firm, but instead setting up a new games team at Netflix, one focused on “new technologies” and “innovation”.
Verdu will remain in charge of Netflix’s games efforts until his replacement is found. We were also passed a quote from Verdu confirming the news:
“I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished, and excited to start a new team at Netflix on the cutting edge of game innovation,” said Verdu. “New technologies have always been key to creativity in games development and, as an entrepreneur at heart, this initiative is right in my happy place.”
In our Q&A with external games boss Leanne Loombe earlier this week, the Netflix exec said that the firm was “super happy with GTA’s performance” since Rockstar’s blockbuster trilogy was added to the service in late 2023.
As we reported in January, the GTA trilogy reached an estimated 18m downloads in just over a month.
Loombe also reiterated the streaming giant’s desire to put games of every genre on screens of every size. Netflix is rolling out more personalisation to the app to help game discovery, she added.
Our most recent look at Netflix’s most-downloaded games placed Rockstar’s GTA: San Andreas at the top, followed by Annapurna’s Storyteller, Tilting Point’s Spongebob: Get Cooking, Ninja Kiwi’s Bloons TD 6 and Nanobit’s Too Hot To Handle.
Netflix recently announced 14 new games to be added to the service over the summer, a mix of indie games from the likes of Klei and titles based on its own TV shows, including The Dragon Prince: Xadia and Too Hot To Handle. There’s also Spry Fox’s life sim Cozy Grove, and a nod to the ‘classic casual’ player with the addition of Hearts.
