Netflix quietly shuts down studio behind Squid Game: Unleashed

In a surprising development, Netflix has officially shut down "Boss Fight Entertainment," the mobile game studio behind Squid Game: Unleashed, just three years after acquiring it.

The closure was confirmed through LinkedIn posts from company staff, including several senior developers.

The move follows widespread layoffs across the gaming industry, including job cuts at Funcom and Cloud Chamber, the developer of the next BioShock title. 

Executives praised the studio’s “extensive experience building hit games across genres,” and Squid Game: Unleashed was later hailed as a major success, topping charts as the “#1 Free Action Game in 107 countries” upon release.

However, despite the game’s popularity, Boss Fight has now been shut down as Netflix reportedly restructures its gaming operations.

“Rough news, for sure, but I’m very grateful for the time we had at Netflix,” wrote co-founder and former CEO David Rippy.

Another executive, David Luehmann, added, “After 10+ great years working at Boss Fight, the last few as part of Netflix, the time has come for the studio to close down. I wish you could see what we had cooking.”

Notably, Netflix acquired Boss Fight in March 2022, describing it at the time as a key step in its push into gaming.