Netflix has shaped a brand new inside video games studio in Helsinki, Finland, to create “pleasant and deeply partaking authentic video games.”

Notably, the nascent opening might be led by former Zynga Helsinki normal supervisor Marko Lastikka, who’ll function studio director.

Lastikka has loads of management expertise, having spent over 5 years at Zynga Helsinki — a studio he additionally co-founded — whereas additionally beforehand serving as normal supervisor and government producer at EA Helsinki.

Netflix mentioned it selected to increase its presence in Helsinki so it could actually faucet into native expertise. The firm already has one studio within the area, having bought Finnish developer Next Games for $72 million earlier this 12 months.

“This is one other step in our imaginative and prescient to construct a world-class video games studio that may carry a wide range of pleasant and deeply partaking authentic video games — with no advertisements and no in-app purchases — to our a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of members around the globe,” mentioned Netflix in a weblog publish. 

“It’s nonetheless early days, and now we have far more work to do to ship a terrific video games expertise on Netflix. Creating a recreation can take years, so I’m proud to see how we’re steadily constructing the muse of our video games studios in our first 12 months, and look ahead to sharing what we produce within the coming years.”

Netflix now has 4 growth studios creating video games below its banner, with its new Helsinki studio becoming a member of Next Games, Night School Studio, and Boss Fight Entertainment.

As it continues to bolster its growth capabilities, Netflix has additionally been increasing its Netflix Games platform — which launched in November 2021 — by including third-party releases and exclusives equivalent to Poinpy, Before Your Eyes, and Into the Breach.

Netflix hopes to extend the Netflix Games catalog, which is accessible on cell platforms, to round 50 titles by the tip of 2022.