Night School Devs Speak Out After Netflix Shuts Down Studio Following 'Top Tier' Unhinged Launch

Netflix is closing its Los Angeles-based game studio Night School, known for the side-scrolling psychological thrillers Oxenfree and Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals. The streaming giant is also shutting down Moonloot, its Helsinki-based studio that had yet to release a game but was working on an unannounced life-sim project.

In a statement to GameFile, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed the company remains committed to releasing games but is streamlining its efforts. "We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities," the spokesperson said. "We are incredibly grateful to the talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to today. We thank them for all their contributions to Netflix, and wish them the best. Games continue to be an opportunity for us to expand the variety of entertainment we offer Netflix members."

The news comes just after Night School released Unhinged, a first-person, narrative-driven horror game co-created with Weapons director Zach Cregger, on June 30. Featuring stars like Sadie Sink and Zoë Kravitz, the game stood out as a unique offering in the current gaming landscape, with reviewers describing it as a "fun and scary choose-your-own-adventure" romp.

A former Night School staff member took to LinkedIn to speak out about the closure, writing, "Despite directing Unhinged and shipping it 6 weeks ago to millions of excited, satisfied players, it looks like I'm back on the market (along with the rest of Night School Studio)! ...I'm so proud of what we accomplished, and millions of people agree that we made a great product! Onward to the next exciting thing!"

These are the latest game studio closures from Netflix, following the shutdown of Team Blue in 2024. Netflix founded that developer in 2022, and it closed without releasing any games. The company also closed Boss Fight Entertainment in 2025 after acquiring it in 2022, during which time it released several games. Netflix described Boss Fight's closure as part of a "less-is-more strategy on a few identified verticals."

Despite these recent closures, Netflix has expressed optimism about its gaming ventures. Co-CEO Greg Peters said in a July 2026 investor call that Unhinged became one of its "most successful cloud game debuts," yielding "really solid numbers that put it in the top tier of game performance for us." He added, "We're scratching the surface in terms of what we think the total potential of the space offers for us. You're going to see us continue to calibrate and refine our level of investment here, which is still very small relative to our overall content spend based on demonstrated performance based on what is working for our members and what's delivering returns to our business."