Epic Games‘ Alain Tascan is taking 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.
Tascan’s appointment to Netflix’s president of games comes one month after the streamer announced Facebook and EA vet Mike Verdu, previously Netflix’s vice president of games, would be shifting into a new role focused on “transformative innovation in game creation and development.”
Netflix launched its games business in November 2021 and has since 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.
To date, Netflix has released more than 100 games, including the internally developed “Oxenfree II: Lost Signals,” which was considered one of the best games of 2023, “Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy,” and games based on hit Netflix IP like “Too Hot to Handle,” “Virgin River,” “Money Heist” and more. Netflix has more than 80 games currently in development, including “Emily in Paris,” “Selling Sunset” and a multiplayer game based in the “Squid Game” universe, which will debut later this year pegged to the Season 2 launch of the TV series.
Netflix recently rolled out a test for games on TV and computers in several countries as part of its long-term strategy to make its games playable across all devices.
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.
“Alain brings over 30 years of experience in global video game development, production, licensing and building studios,” Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said. “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.”