Netflix Closes Night School, 2K Launches Small Axe
Netflix is pulling back from in-house game development by closing Oxenfree maker Night School Studio and Moonloot Games, while 2K starts Small Axe Studios to pursue a new blockbuster sports franchise . Pokémon Pokopia and Sonic Frontiers both pass five million sales, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s beta is set to include a campaign mission for the first time in the series
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Netflix Shuts Down Oxenfree Developer Night School Studio
Netflix is shutting down Night School Studio, the Los Angeles developer behind Oxenfree and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, alongside Finnish studio Moonloot Games . The closures come as Netflix reduces its internal game teams and shifts more attention toward party games and titles streamed to TVs
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Netflix acquired Night School in 2021, and the studio’s latest release, Unhinged, arrived only six weeks before the shutdown . Moonloot was founded in 2022 and had not published a game before its closure
. Netflix says the restructuring will allow its Games business to operate more strategically and efficiently
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2K Launches Small Axe Studios to Build a New Sports Franchise
2K has launched Small Axe Studios, a Vancouver-based AAA development team tasked with making the publisher’s “next blockbuster sports franchise” . The studio includes EA veterans with experience on FIFA, Madden NFL, and NHL, and is led by a former FIFA executive producer
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The move positions 2K to challenge EA Sports FC’s relatively uncontested football position, although the publisher has only described Small Axe’s project as a future sports franchise .
Compulsion Games Takes Over Steam Publishing for South of Midnight
Compulsion Games now lists itself as the Steam publisher of South of Midnight, replacing Xbox Game Studios on the store page . The change suggests the studio’s separation from Xbox is complete after Microsoft’s restructuring spun Compulsion out independently alongside three other studios amid thousands of layoffs
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Pokémon Pokopia and Sonic Frontiers Pass Five Million Sales
Pokémon Pokopia has sold more than five million physical and digital copies worldwide in just over four months, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company announce . That puts the Switch 2 title at roughly one owner in every four Switch 2 users
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Sega also confirms Sonic Frontiers has passed five million copies since its 2022 launch on Switch and other platforms, with the company celebrating the milestone through a free Sonic Adventure 2 gift .
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 Beta Adds a Campaign Mission
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4’s upcoming PS5 beta includes a single-player campaign mission, the first time a Call of Duty beta has offered one . The Entrenched level joins multiplayer modes and maps, as well as the new Warzone Resurgence map Zodiac
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The pre-release tests take place this month, giving players an early look at both the campaign and multiplayer package before launch .