After changing its gaming strategy to focus more on games played on TV, Netflix announced it is acquiring Estonia-based avatar-creation platform Ready Player Me. The streamer said Friday it plans to use the startup’s development tools and infrastructure to create avatars that will allow Netflix subscribers to take their personalities and fans across different games.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ready Player Me had raised $72 million in venture backing from investors, Involved a16z, Endeavour, Konvoy Ventures, Plural, and various angels, including co-founders of companies like Roblox, Twitch, and King Games.
Netflix told TechCrunch that the startup’s team of about 20 people will be joining the company. Of the four founders Rainer Selvet, Havre Järveoja, Kaspar Tiri and Timmu Toke, only CTO Rainer Selvet is moving to Netflix. It is not estimated how long it will take for Avatar to launch. Nor have details been provided as to which game or type of game will get the first incarnation.
Following the acquisition, Ready Player Me will discontinue its services, including its online avatar creation tool, on January 31, 2026. playerzero,
“Our vision has always been to enable avatars and identities to travel across multiple games and virtual worlds,” Ready Player Me CEO Timmu Toke said in a statement. “We’ve been on an independent path to make that vision a reality for a long time. I’m so excited to now have the Ready Player Me team join Netflix to bring our technology and expertise to a global audience and contribute to Netflix’s exciting vision for gaming.”
Netflix’s gaming shift
The Netflix deal reflects the company’s changing approach to games.
When it hit the market four years ago, the company offered mobile games to customers who would log in using their Netflix accounts. At the time, Netflix explained that it saw gaming as another new category, similar to its other expansions into original films, animation and unscripted TV.
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Netflix acquired several gaming studios and titles, and licensed them to others, led by the company’s VP of Games Mike Verdu, who previously worked at EA and Kabam. That strategy yielded mixed results. Although some of its larger, more well-known titles may have attracted some customers, such as GTA: San Andreas, others were virtually unknown. (The company recently said GTA game was about to endAlso, along with dozens of other titles.)
Netflix Too Close Below many Of its studio acquisitions or returned them to their founders,
To some extent, these changes were predictable. Going into this, Netflix knew it had to move forward Gaming will be an experimentAnd it has to adapt as it turns out what works and what doesn’t.
As part of its strategy change, Netflix brought last year A new executive, Alan Taskan, formerly of Epic Games, was appointed as President of Games. Verdu, who was vice president of generative AI for games at the time, left after seven months,
Under Tusken, Netflix has expanded its gaming lineup for TV and begun to focus on party games, kids’ games, narrative games, and more mainstream titles.
Recently, Streamer released A slate of party games for TV and mobile, Including Netflix Puzzled, PAW Patrol Academy, Plus WWE 2K25Red Dead Redemption, and Best Guess, a live party game With hosts Hunter March and Howie Mandel and a $1 million jackpot. This week, also A new FIFA title announced Will be on TV in time for the World Cup in 2026.
At the TechCrunch Disrupt event this October, Netflix CTO Elizabeth Stone said the company was introducing interactive real-time voting for live content, which it was already testing with live cooking shows, and would soon bring talent show “Star Search” to the reboot.
In this way, Netflix is now looking more closely at how the TV industry embraces mobile, interactive experiences by allowing viewers to vote for “American Idol” contestants or favorite couples on reality shows like “Love Island.”
Whether Netflix can convince its audience to think about its brand – traditionally associated with passive, lean-back viewing – as something that lends itself to interactive activities like gaming, remains to be seen.
Correction: Netflix originally told TechCrunch that all founders were joining. It’s just CTO Rainer Selvet who is joining, Netflix did the right thing. The article has been updated.
