Netflix Acquires Oxenfree Developer Night School Studio

Night School Studio is the team behind the beloved adventures games Oxenfree and Afterparty. The developer has been working independently for seven years, but Netflix bought it. It’s not surprising, but it isn’t shocking. Netflix has been working to break into the gaming industry for some time. This is however the first acquisition by Netflix of a gaming 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 offers film, television, and game creators unprecedented opportunities to deliver great entertainment to millions. Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. Both teams arrived at this conclusion almost 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. 

Kimberley said in our Oxenfree review, “I wanted to constantly see where it was heading and where I would choose to go.” Night School Studio was not afraid to try new and exciting things when it came to presentation of a choice-based narrative game. Some parts were great, but others disappointed. Even though I loved learning more about the characters and watching them develop through my actions, it was still a great experience. 

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. Do you believe it will?