Netflix Snaps Up Finnish ‘Stranger Things’ Game Developer
Netflix Snaps Up Finnish ‘Stranger Things’ Game Developer
(Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc. offered to buy a Finnish mobile games studio that’s making a title based on the former’s hit streaming series “Stranger Things.”
The U.S. company said in a statement on Wednesday it had offered 2.10 euros ($2.33) a share for Next Games Oyj in a deal with a total equity value of about 65 million euros. It’s been unanimously recommended by the Next Games board, it said.
Shares of the Finnish company jumped more than 120% in Helsinki to trade in line with the offer price.
The deal is another sign Netflix is advancing on its ambition to make video games an important extension of its online streaming business.
Last year, it hired Mike Verdu as president of games development and in November introduced its first five mobile titles, and in September said it had acquired its first game developer, Night School Studio.
Netflix and Next Games already work together on Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, a story-driven puzzle role playing game inspired by one of Netflix’s most watched series, styled to resemble a 1980s Saturday morning cartoon.
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