Netflix announced on March 2, 2022, that it would buy Finnish mobile-game developer and publisher Next Games through a recommended public cash tender offer. Netflix offered €2.10 per share, valuing Next Games’ equity at approximately €65 million. Contemporary U.S. coverage commonly rounded that amount to about $72 million, so the dollar figure is an exchange-rate conversion—not a separately disclosed payment.
The purchase was designed to expand Netflix’s internal game-development capabilities, especially in mobile, live-service operations and entertainment-franchise adaptations. Netflix later said it had acquired all outstanding Next Games shares in 2022.
What Netflix acquired
Next Games was a Helsinki-based Finnish studio founded in 2013. It developed and published mobile games built around recognizable entertainment properties, with experience operating live-service products after launch. Netflix’s announcement identified approximately 120 employees at the end of 2021 and reported approximately €27.2 million in 2020 sales.
This was a specialist mobile acquisition, not the purchase of a major console, PC or AAA publisher. Netflix was buying a development team and its production expertise rather than a blockbuster game franchise.
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The €65 million transaction, explained
| Term | Verified detail |
|---|---|
| Announcement | March 2, 2022 (Netflix’s investor-relations release is dated March 1) |
| Structure | Recommended voluntary public cash tender offer |
| Offer price | €2.10 per Next Games share |
| Announced equity value | Approximately €65 million |
| Common dollar equivalent | Approximately $72 million in contemporary coverage; the value varies with exchange rates |
| Board position | Next Games’ board unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer |
| Expected closing at announcement | Second quarter of 2022, subject to customary conditions |
| Completion | Netflix later stated that it acquired all outstanding Next Games shares in 2022; the reviewed sources do not establish the precise closing date |
Netflix’s official release gives the primary transaction figures: €2.10 per share and approximately €65 million in equity value. Netflix’s announcement and the Next Games board statement describe the tender-offer terms. A January 2023 Netflix tax notice confirms the acquisition of all outstanding shares during 2022.
Why Next Games fit Netflix’s strategy
Mobile development
Netflix initially concentrated its games initiative on mobile devices. Next Games already had the relevant design, production and publishing experience, allowing Netflix to add an operating studio rather than build those capabilities from zero.
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Entertainment-franchise adaptation
Next Games had worked with television and other entertainment properties. Its Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales was an existing Netflix-linked project: a story-driven puzzle role-playing game based on the series. The company also made critically acclaimed games based on The Walking Dead, according to Netflix’s announcement.
Live-service operations
A mobile game is not finished at launch. Live-service teams manage updates, events, analytics, retention and community needs over time. Netflix specifically highlighted Next Games’ ability to create and operate games that maintained an audience after release.
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Helsinki talent
Netflix described Helsinki as a strategically important location and talent market for game development. Acquiring an established local team gave Netflix a foothold in a recognized European games cluster.
How the deal supported Netflix’s broader games bet
Netflix presented games as a complement to its streaming catalog and a way to deepen engagement with its entertainment properties. Its model at the time was to include games with a Netflix membership rather than sell them through a separate game-store purchase system. In its October 2022 shareholder letter, Netflix said 35 games were available on the service and another 55 were in development. The same letter said the games then offered had no in-game ads or in-app purchases.
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That positioning explains why ownership could matter. An internal studio can give Netflix more direct access to talent, control over product roadmaps and closer coordination between a show’s launch and an interactive experience. Those are strategic advantages inferred from Netflix’s stated objectives, not guarantees of subscriber growth or financial returns.
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Mobile expertise is not universal game expertise
Next Games strengthened Netflix’s mobile capability. It did not automatically provide console, PC, AAA or cloud-gaming production capacity.
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Franchise recognition is not a retention strategy
Stranger Things and The Walking Dead can attract initial attention, but a recognizable license cannot replace compelling systems, content updates and long-term player engagement.
Different monetization assumptions
Approximately 95% of Next Games’ 2020 revenue came from in-game purchases, according to Netflix’s transaction release. Netflix’s games offering, by contrast, was marketed as included with membership and without in-app purchases at that time. Integrating the studio therefore involved more than changing ownership; the products and their economics had to fit Netflix’s subscription proposition.
Integration and return uncertainty
Acquisitions can create friction if corporate processes slow development, weaken creative independence or make it harder to retain staff. Netflix did not publish a forecast for revenue, subscriber gains, churn reduction or return on this transaction in the cited announcements.
What happened after the announcement
The initial announcement described a pending tender offer expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. Netflix subsequently referred to acquiring all outstanding Next Games shares in 2022. The available sources establish the completion and the deal’s strategic rationale, but they do not establish Next Games’ current headcount, standalone brand status, current game lineup or the acquisition’s quantified financial performance.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Netflix: “Netflix to Acquire Next Games”
- Netflix investor-relations transaction release
- Next Games tender-offer document
- TechCrunch’s contemporary $72 million conversion
- Netflix Q3 2022 shareholder letter
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