California's AI Executive Order Pushes Responsible Tech Use in State Contracts 
Makemation: a Nollywood movie that shows AI in action in Africa 
Meta Ties Executive Pay to Aggressive Stock Price Targets in Major Retention Push 
Apple Turns 50: From Garage Startup to AI Crossroads 
NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission 
NASA Artemis II: First Crewed Moon Mission Since Apollo Takes Four Astronauts on 10-Day Lunar Journey 
Palantir's Maven AI Earns Pentagon "Program of Record" Status, Reshaping Military AI Strategy 
SpaceX IPO Filing Expected This Week as Valuation Could Surpass $75 Billion 
Elliott Investment Management Takes Multibillion-Dollar Stake in Synopsys 
Meta and Google just lost a landmark social media addiction case. A tech law expert explains the fallout 
NVIDIA's Feynman AI Chip May Face Redesign Amid TSMC Capacity Crunch 
SpaceX Eyes Historic IPO at $1.75 Trillion Valuation 
Golden Dome Missile Defense: Anduril and Palantir Join Forces on Trump's $185B Space Shield 
Nintendo Switch 2 Production Cut as Holiday Sales Miss Targets 
TSMC Japan's Second Fab to Produce 3nm Chips by 2028 
Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears 
Netflix is moving forward with its gaming business. The streaming giant announced on Wednesday that “Oxenfree” developer Night School Studio is its first video game acquisition.
The company launched an in-app gaming section last August. The service, however, is currently only available on Android and to members in Poland, Spain, and Italy. The announcement of Netflix’s acquisition suggests that the streaming giant also intends to have first-party games in its catalog. “We’ll continue working with developers around the world and hiring the best talent in the industry to deliver a great collection of exclusive games designed for every kind of gamer and any level of play,” Netflix VP for game development said in a press release.
Night School Studio is known for the critically-acclaimed graphic adventure “Oxenfree” that launched in 2016. The game’s plot is one of its well-received features. Its ending varies and depends on prior decisions players make in the game. It was nominated for several prestigious awards, including Best Narrative for The Game Awards in the same year.
The developer has since released more games, and it is currently developing the sequel “Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals.” In Night School Studio’s blog post about the Netflix acquisition, the developer said it would “keep making” the sequel. It might be a hint that launch plans for the remain intact after joining the streaming giant. The project was announced earlier this year. It is slated to launch on PC, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, while its Steam page indicates it will be released sometime in 2022.
However, it is unclear if “Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals” will become one of the games Netflix will offer to its subscribers. While it is now more apparent that Netflix aims to offer first-party games, it remains to be seen how the streaming giant will distribute them and what it means by “exclusive games.”
“Stranger Things: 1984” and “Stranger Things 3” were the first games Netflix offered in its gaming service. Earlier this week, the company added three new licensed games namely “Shooting Hoops,” “Teeter (Up),” and “Card Blast.” The games are accessible via Google Play Store. They do not require additional fees and plays without ads and in-app purchases.
Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash
