Netflix Shuts Down Squid Game Mobile Studio After Calling It a Hit

Netflix has shut down Boss Fight Entertainment, the Texas-based studio behind Squid Game: Unleashed, according to posts from staff on LinkedIn. The move comes just three years after Netflix acquired the team in 2022 to boost its push into mobile gaming.

Boss Fight’s co-founder and former CEO David Rippy, now a studio director at Netflix, confirmed the closure in a LinkedIn post, writing: “Hi everyone – well, word has gotten around quickly about Boss Fight’s closure. Rough news, for sure, but I’m very grateful for the time we had at Netflix. We worked with some awesome people and made many games that I’m very proud of, including Squid Game: Unleashed, which hit #1 in 26 countries.”

He also urged studios to consider hiring affected employees, calling them “outstanding people and true professionals through-and-through.”

“After 10+ great years working at Boss Fight, the last few as part of Netflix, the time has come for the studio to close down. I am very proud of all the people, work, and games we’ve released. I wish you could see what we had cooking!”, said another director, David Luehmann, also on LinkedIn.

When Netflix acquired Boss Fight in 2022, the company said the studio’s experience in “building hit games across genres” would help it grow its gaming lineup. Just this week, co-CEO Greg Peters highlighted Squid Game: Unleashed during Netflix’s earnings call as an example of how it wants to expand into games tied to its own franchises.

But despite that praise, the studio is now gone. Netflix declined to comment on the closure, as reported by The Verge.

The shutdown adds to a growing list of industry layoffs and studio closures this year, including at Dune: Awakening developer Funcom and BioShock maker Cloud Chamber. Netflix itself previously closed another internal AAA studio before releasing any games.

Netflix says its next focus is on party-style games playable on TVs using smartphones as controllers (just look at the recent reboot of Amazon Luna)—a far smaller, more casual approach compared to the ambitious projects it once teased.

Mobile games for iOS and Android are free to download for anyone with a Netflix subscription. I don’t know anyone that actually downloads these games–do you?