Netflix announced on December 19, 2025 that it has acquired Ready Player Me, an Estonian avatar‑creation platform that lets users build and transfer digital personas across multiple games. The deal includes the transfer of Ready Player Me’s 20‑person team—led by founders Rainer Selvet, Haver Järveoja, Kaspar Tiri, and Timmu Tõke—to Netflix, and the company has agreed to shut down its PlayerZero service on January 31, 2026.
While the financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Ready Player Me has raised $69 million in funding to date, including a $56 million Series B round in August 2022. The platform now powers more than 3,000 partner games, positioning it as a potential default avatar system for the emerging metaverse. Netflix’s acquisition therefore adds a proven, scalable identity layer to its growing gaming ecosystem without a publicly known cash outlay, a strategy that aligns with its broader push into interactive entertainment.
The acquisition is a key component of Netflix’s pivot from mobile gaming to TV‑based interactive experiences. By embedding persistent avatars, Netflix can create a unified player identity that travels across its own games and third‑party titles, deepening engagement and encouraging longer session times. The move also dovetails with the company’s ad‑supported subscription tier, launched in November 2022, which has driven additional revenue and provided a new channel for monetizing interactive content.
Ready Player Me’s technology will be integrated into Netflix’s existing and future narrative and party games. Early reports suggest that the first titles to feature the platform will be part of Netflix’s upcoming “interactive series” slate, allowing viewers to carry their avatars into live‑action and virtual environments. The integration also opens the door for cross‑product experiences, such as using a Netflix avatar in a partner game or vice versa, thereby expanding the company’s ecosystem reach.
Netflix’s Q3 2025 earnings, released on October 21, 2025, showed an EPS of $5.87—an impressive beat of $0.24 over the $5.63 consensus—while revenue of $11.32 billion fell short of the $11.52 billion estimate. The earnings beat was largely driven by disciplined cost management and a favorable mix shift toward higher‑margin streaming and gaming content, offsetting a revenue dip in legacy subscription segments. The revenue miss reflected a broader slowdown in core subscriber growth and increased marketing spend to support the new gaming initiatives.
In a statement, Netflix co‑CEO Greg Peters highlighted the acquisition as a “strategic milestone” that would “unlock new ways for our members to connect and play across our platform.” He emphasized that the company’s focus on interactive experiences is a long‑term priority, and that the Ready Player Me platform will accelerate the development of immersive, cross‑product games that keep members engaged beyond traditional viewing.
Looking ahead, Netflix plans to phase out PlayerZero by the end of January 2026, freeing resources to invest in its own avatar infrastructure. The company’s broader gaming strategy, combined with the new technology, positions it to compete more directly with other entertainment and gaming giants, potentially creating a new revenue stream and enhancing member stickiness in a highly competitive market.
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