Netflix’s first gaming boss has left the company, following a shift in role and various changes behind the scenes last year.
Mike Verdu launched and led Netflix’s gaming efforts in 2021, but was moved to a new role – VP of Generative AI for games at Netflix – in November last year. At the time, Verdu said peers should “pay no mind to uninformed speculation in the media about changes at Netflix Games”, as the changes were a “planned transition”.
Now, Verdu has departed the company entirely, Game File has reported.
The move follows a number of shifts behind the scenes last year, including the hiring of gaming industry veteran Alain Tascan to serve as Verdu’s replacement as gaming boss.
In October 2024, Netflix closed a major internal game studio led by Halo creative head Joseph Staten, and scrapped its big-budget project before it was ever announced.
By January, Netflix had reportedly dropped at least six other game projects it was planning to publish – including cosy Hobbit sim Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game, which will now launch at a later date without the streaming company’s involvement.
And in February this year, Netflix cut staff at Oxenfree developer Night School Studio. No announcement was made on how many jobs were lost, or what the studio was working on next.
As Netflix reorganises its plans, it remains unclear how its gaming focus will look going forward – other than Verdu will not be part of it.
Last month, Netflix celebrated its biggest quarterly subscriber increase in history by increasing its prices yet again, including here in the UK.