Report: Netflix Games’ move to AI isn’t looking good as new boss leaves within few months

Last year in November, Netflix shut down the only game development studio ‘Team Blue’ that was working on a AAA game. The decision came in favor of a new AI game development which featured ‘Mike Verdu’, former Electronic Arts and Facebook exec at the gaming division, who took on the role of VP, of GenAI for Games at Netflix.

A few months into the studio, there are reports that Verdu has left the company. The report comes from Stephen Totilo of Game File who revealed that the information regarding Verdu’s departure was confirmed by a representative from Netflix marking an end to his ambitious journey at AI game development early on.

Netflix Games faces big changes in the last few months

The announcement of Team Blue’s shutdown came as a surprise as the studio featured gaming industry veterans like former Halo creative lead Joseph Staten, Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny, and Rafael Grassetti from Sony’s Santa Monica studio. Together, they were posed to create the first AAA game for Netflix.

Moving forward to 2025, less than a month ago, Netflix announced another wave of lays at Night School Studio, the developers behind Oxenfree games. This was one of the first studios acquired by Netflix which led people to wonder about the company’s plans moving forward with Netflix Games. All these changes reportedly came after former Epic Games and Ubisoft exec Alain Tascan took charge of the gaming division.

Also Read: Netflix Games lays off staff at Night School Studio, devs behind Oxenfree

Netflix still plans to commit to gaming

At the moment, there is no information on the Generative AI game development at Netflix, however, that does not mean the company is backing off. The addition of GTA Trilogy revealed that Netflix can do well in gaming too. There are still multiple small-scale games for casual players in development. The company recently announced plans to bring WWE 2K on mobile devices to its subscribers and will also be present at the upcoming Game Developer Conference.