Night School Studio is the team behind the beloved adventures games Oxenfree and Afterparty. But after seven years of working as an independent studio, the developer is being acquired by streaming giant Netflix. This is surprising but not a complete shock. Netflix has been working to break into the gaming industry for some time. However, this is the first time Netflix has outright acquired a game studio.
In an official blog post, Night School Studio’s founder and creative director Sean Krankel said, “Night School wants to stretch our narrative and design aspirations across distinctive, original games with heart. Netflix gives film, TV, and now game makers an unprecedented canvas to create and deliver excellent entertainment to millions of people. Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively. Of course, it’s a surreal honor to be the first games studio to join Netflix! Not only do we get to keep doing what we do, how we like to do it, but we get a front-row seat on the biggest entertainment platform in the world.”
Krankel went on to assure fans that Oxenfree II: Lost Signals is still in the works. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time the two companies have worked together; several years ago, Night School and Telltale were working on a Stranger Things game for Netflix, but that game was never released.
In our review for the original Oxenfree, Kimberley Wallace said, “I constantly wanted to see where it was going and where my choices would lead. Night School Studio clearly wasn’t afraid to experiment and try some different and interesting things with presentation in regards to a narrative-based, choice-driven game. As much as I loved parts of the overall experience, others let me down. Even so, I enjoyed learning about these characters and seeing them grow through my actions.”
While we’re excited to see how Oxenfree II turns out, we’re equally interested to see what Night School cooks up next for Netflix. What do you think it will be?