Netflix has acquired indie developer Spry Fox as it continues to make a splash in the games market.
Spry Fox is best known for classic mobile puzzler Triple Town, and later cutesy word puzzler Alphabear. Most recently it released Apple Arcade title Cozy Grove, an Animal Crossing-like life sim.
Netflix games exec Amir Rahimi said of the deal: “We look forward to creating games with a studio whose values — a relentless focus on employee and player joy — align closely with ours. Our games journey has only just begun, but I’m proud of the foundational work we’ve been doing to build out our in-house creative capacity so that we can deliver the best possible games experience — including no ads and no in-app purchases — to our members as part of their membership.”
Co-founder of Spry Fox Daniel Cook added: “When David and I founded Spry Fox twelve years ago, our goal was to create a place where kind, creative people could make beautiful, original games in a supportive environment that brought happiness to the people who played them. After many heartfelt conversations, we are all excited about joining Netflix as an in-house game studio and building amazing games together.”
Spry Fox is now the sixth in-house games studio at Netflix, which has rarely been out of the headlines lately as it continues to push into gaming.
Earlier today we revealed that the core Zynga Helsinki team have moved to Netflix’s new Helsinki office, and recently Netflix games boss Mike Verdu confirmed it was also opening a new US studio and looking into cloud gaming.
Netflix also recently signed a big money deal with Ubisoft for three games, including an Assassin’s Creed title, and has acquired Oxenfree maker Night School Studio, Next Games and Boss Fight Entertainment as well as hiring an army of top games talent over the last year.
