Netflix’s gaming technique has yet to take clear shape, however generative AI might find yourself being an enormous a part of it. Or no less than that’s what the corporate appears to hope for, primarily based on a latest job posting. The Squid Video games and Stranger Issues streaming large is seeking to rent a director of generative AI for gaming to probably lead implementation of the experimental expertise throughout its sport studios. They’ll be paid as much as $840K for the honour.
Shared on Bluesky by the comedian author and artist Kendra Wells, the listing describes how this potential chief inside the firm’s gaming division will “define and lead the Gen AI strategy across Netflix Games, helping to shape foundational infrastructure to player-facing features” and “identify and evaluate opportunities to apply Gen AI across our portfolio and studios both in the creation of new experiences and improving our workflows and pipelines.”
The place, posted again in September, is onsite in Los Angeles, California and, due to state disclosure legal guidelines, advertises a wage band of $430,000 to $840,000. Netflix laid off builders at its Oxenfree maker Night time Faculty Studio who most likely weren’t making near one million every earlier this year.
This isn’t Netflix’s first foray into generative AI gaming. The division’s earlier boss, Mike Verdu, held the title VP of GenAI for Video games till earlier this yr when he abruptly left the company. “Many view this technology with fear, but I am a game-maker at heart and I see its potential to unlock all of us, to create mind-blowing new experiences for players, to lift us to new heights,” the business veteran wrote in a 2024 LinkedIn post full with AI-slop imagery. “Yes, we’ll have to adapt and change, but when have we failed to meet that challenge as an industry?”
His substitute, former Epic Video games exec Alain Tascan, took over in March and said Netflix’s evolving gaming strategy would give attention to social gathering video games, narrative video games, and fast cell variations of its hit franchises. Its first Good TV video games are speculated to launch later this yr, whereas Spirit Crossing, a comfortable MMO sim that mashes collectively Animal Crossing and Studio Ghibli vibes, would be the take a look at of whether or not it could possibly lastly ship a breakout hit. It walked away from its AAA blockbuster gaming ambitions last year. Who is aware of if this exploration of generative AI-influenced gaming might be simply as short-lived?
