Netflix has Hired Alain Tascan, who founded the Montreal studios Ubisoft and EA, to head their Gaming Division
Apple introduced "Apple Arcade" in 2019. Netflix saw this as a potential threat to their service and launched Netflix Games in November 2021.
Netflix is now boosting their management team with the addition of Alain Tascan who worked at Epic Games‘ to take on the top job at Netflix‘s growing games division. Most recently, Tascan served as executive vice president of game development at Epic Games, where he oversaw all first party game development for “Fortnite,” “Lego Fortnite,” “Rocket League” and “Fall Guys.” In his new role, Tascan will report directly to Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters.
Prior to his time at Epic, Tascan founded the Montreal studios for Ubisoft and EA, where his credits include “Army of Two,” “Need for Speed: Nitro” and “Batman Vengeance.” Tascan was also founder and CEO of Umi Games, the developer of “Family Feud Live” for mobile.
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters: "Alain brings over 30 years of experience in global video game development, production, licensing and building studios. He has a passion for making great games and a proven track record of taking bold creative bets. We’re thrilled to have him leading Netflix Games.”
Tascan added: “In an ever-evolving entertainment landscape, Netflix has continually demonstrated an unparalleled ability to innovate and captivate audiences worldwide. I am honored and thrilled to build on the remarkable foundation that the talented games team here has laid, and I firmly believe that Netflix is uniquely positioned to redefine the future of gaming.”
Since its launch, Netflix Games has acquired four gaming studios: Night School, Boss Fight, Next Games and Spry Fox. The streamer is building two internal studios, one in Southern California and one in Helsinki. For more on this, read the full report by Variety.
Yesterday Patently Apple posted a report titled "After years of losses, Apple is trying to rein in their Hollywood Spending." Our report noted that "Apple is spending billions of dollars a year on original programming that has received strong reviews and many awards nominations. But its streaming service is attracting just 0.2% of TV viewing in the US. Apple TV+ generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in one day."
With Apple TV+ not even making a dent in Netflix's business, one has to wonder how well their Apple Arcades business is doing.