Netflix is acquiring cozy game developer Spry Fox

A screenshot from Cozy Grove. | Image: Spry Fox

Netflix is acquiring Spry Fox, the indie developer of “cozy” games like Cozy Grove and Alphabear, Netflix announced on Monday. The acquisition means that Spry Fox will become Netflix’s sixth in-house gaming studio.

For Spry Fox, the acquisition won’t mean any changes for now. The studio’s current games will remain available for download “in their current forms on their current platforms,” co-founder and CEO David Edery said in a post on Spry Fox’s blog, and the studio is already working on making Cozy Grove 2 and “a larger, non-violent MMO.” Thanks to the acquisition, “we can stop stressing about how our games generate profit on our games and instead focus exclusively on making them as enjoyable and fulfilling to our players as possible,” Edery said.

Spry Fox will join a roster of Netflix studios that includes Helsinki-based Next Games, mobile studio Boss Fight Entertainment, Oxenfree developer Night School, and internal studios in Finland and in Southern California.

Netflix officially launched its mobile games offering nearly one year ago, letting subscribers play a collection of Android and iOS titles for no additional charge. As part of its earnings announcement this month, Netflix said its collection has 35 titles available for subscribers and that there are 55 more games in development. While data indicates that most subscribers haven’t tried the games yet, Netflix’s commitment to more games, its acquisitions of studios like Spry Fox, and vocal interest in cloud gaming all suggest that the company is taking gaming seriously.