Netflix on Monday announced the acquisition of Seattle-based game development studio Spry Fox, which will become the streaming giant’s sixth internal video game studio. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal furthers Netflix’s expansion of its operations into video game development and publishing. Subscribers to Netflix’s streaming service can play ad-free mobile games via the Netflix application, which are presented without additional ads or in-app purchases.
Founded in 2010 by David Edery and Daniel Cook, Spry Fox specializes in making casual, wholesome games. Its mission statement, as per its website, is: “We want to make the world a happier place and we’re using games to do it.”
“Real talk: we’ve been at this for almost 13 years,” Edery wrote on the Spry Fox blog. “It’s been exhilarating, humbling, endlessly interesting and often challenging.”
Edery continued, “What has become clear over the course of all of our adventures: We are a studio that builds original, world-class cozy games. Especially games that bring people together. And we are confident that Netflix is going to help us do that.”
“We look forward to creating games with a studio whose values — a relentless focus on employee and player joy — align closely with ours,” wrote Amir Rahimi, Netflix VP of games, on the Netflix blog.
Spry Fox’s most recent release is Cozy Grove, a peaceful “life simulator,” which it published for PC through Seattle’s Quantum Astrophysicists Guild in April 2021.
In Cozy Grove, players gradually restore color and life to a haunted island by finding and helping out its local population of ghosts. It’s meant to be played for a little while every day, as players collect new pets and outfits, play minigames, and unravel the ghosts’ unique stories. A major expansion, New Neighbears, was released in April 2022.
Edery wrote in the announcement that Spry Fox’s current project, the non-violent MMO Cozy Grove 2, is still in development and has not been affected by the acquisition. The company’s other games, which include Alphabear, Bushido Bear, Road Not Taken, and TripleTown, will remain on their current platforms and storefronts.
GeekWire has reached out to Spry Fox for comment.
Other internal game development studios at Netflix include Boss Fight Entertainment in Allen, Texas; Next Games in Helsinki; an unnamed studio in southern California that opened earlier this month; and a second new studio in Helsinki, which it announced in September.
