Netflix’s new gaming studio, which has former Blizzard VP and Overwatch Producer Chacko Sonny at the helm, has seemingly begun work on a new AAA shooter for PC. This Los Angeles-based studio, simply known as Netflix Games Studio, has not yet finished setting up the development staff for this new project, as it recently put up a job posting requesting a game director with experience in developing first-person or third-person shooters. The posting also suggested that a candidate for the game director position should ideally have plenty of experience with live-service games, which implies that this AAA shooter will fall within that category.
According to the job posting, the game director candidate should have the capability to craft a world, story, and cast “worthy of a Netflix film or TV series.” Additionally, the candidate will need to demonstrate “a deep understanding of highly engaging content” as well as a passion for cooperative and competitive social systems. The candidate, if hired, will incorporate all of the job posting’s requested features in Unreal Engine.
“The next big thing in gaming”
Alongside all of this, the candidate will need a minimum of 10 years of game design experience under their belt, with at least some of that time spent as a game director, creative director, or other similar leadership position. As for the game itself, the job posting does not reveal anything concrete about it, which is customary for a title still in the early stages of development.
We knew that Netflix has aimed to get into the gaming business for a while now, but this job posting suggests that the company has officially kicked these efforts into high gear. Mike Verdu, the VP of gaming at Netflix, indicated as such when he discussed the hiring of Sonny, saying that “you don’t get people like that coming to your organization to build the next big thing in gaming unless there’s a sense that we’re really in it for the long haul and in it for the right reasons.” Having said all that, you probably should not expect Netflix to announce this new shooter project anytime soon.
