Netflix Closes Night School Studio and Moonloot, Pulling Back from Internal Game Development
Netflix is shutting down Night School Studio, the developer behind the horror game Unhinged, along with Moonloot, a Helsinki-based game studio founded in 2022, according to Variety.
The closures come less than two months after Unhinged was released — a remarkably short window between a studio shipping a game and that studio being closed. Netflix has not publicly disclosed the reasons behind the decision. A Netflix spokesperson told Variety they were "grateful to the departing colleagues" and thanked them for their contributions to Netflix.
Night School Studio had been part of Netflix's games operation since 2021, when the streaming company acquired it — its first internal game studio acquisition. The studio was known for narrative-driven horror titles before Unhinged shipped. Moonloot, based in Helsinki, had been operating since 2022 and had not yet released a title.
Netflix launched its gaming initiative in 2021, offering mobile games free to subscribers with no ads and no in-app purchases. The strategy depended on building and acquiring studios to produce exclusive titles rather than licensing third-party games alone. These closures reduce the number of internal studios Netflix operates, though the company has not said whether further cuts are planned or how the remaining studios' roadmaps will be affected.
For the developers at Night School and Moonloot, the shutdowns mean the loss of those jobs and the end of projects in development. For Netflix subscribers who play the platform's mobile games, the pipeline of internally developed titles narrows. Netflix has not said whether Unhinged will remain available on its platform.
What makes this stand out is the timing. A studio releasing a game and then closing within weeks is unusual in the games industry, where development cycles run for years and studios are typically evaluated over a longer horizon. Whether the Unhinged launch factored into the decision or the closures were driven by broader strategic changes at Netflix Games has not been confirmed. Variety's report, published on 13 August 2026, did not specify the number of employees affected.
Netflix's wider gaming strategy has seen the company experiment with different approaches — from bundling mobile games with its streaming subscription to exploring cloud streaming and licensing established franchises. The closure of two studios in one move suggests a contraction in the internal-development pillar of that strategy, though Netflix has not framed it that way in its public statements.
