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Comment by Sohcahtoa82 | Hacker News Reader

> The streaming giant is forming an in-house game studio in Helsinki, Finland to create "world-class" original games without ads or in-app purchases. While it's too soon for details of the games themselves, Zynga and EA alumnus Marko Lastikka will serve as director.

...

They're hiring someone that worked at two companies that are known as the KINGS of in-game ads and purchases to make games without in-game ads and purchases?

I'm not exactly holding my breath on these games being any good at all.

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I was wondering if this was well-known / out in the open or not. I've been reached out to by recruiters with the subject line "Netflix -- Gaming" (I don't know why, I've never worked in gamedev and don't particularly have much interest in it, just personally not a fit for me!) a couple weeks after their larger layoff announcement, which I thought was interesting, to say the least.

However the role was specifically for Los Angeles where I'm based, and it seem their hiring portal still is hiring for LA and not Finland? Would they really have two competing game studios? [1]

https://jobs.netflix.com/jobs/218982716

I'd say that's more promising than anything.

Ads come last as they are a guaranteed detriment to the experience. You have to make something really engaging first. The fact that they've created games so ad-laden to be known for it means they had to create an experience so engaging as to support the drag all those ads create on the experience.

Not really. It's usually the emphasis in many mobile games. Meaning the design the game specifically to play ads. Not the last thing they think of. It's part of the design pattern at many companies but especially mobile. Taking someone who's only experience is designing intricately paywalled games is not going to come out to a good game. Let's just hope he has other experience.

I take it you've never played an ad-laden game.

> Ads come last as they are a guaranteed detriment to the experience.

You definitely have that backwards. Some games are created for the purpose of selling ads. They time-gate progress, but offer to let you fast-forward through the gate by watching an ad or by selling you in-game currency.

> You have to make something really engaging first

The games are "engaging" via psychological tricks, not through actually being good games. For example, they'll offer you a loot box in exchange for watching a 15-30 second ad video. Idle games like Egg Inc will give you a 24-hour boost to your income for watching an ad, and as you play will offer ads to get instant bonuses.

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