In a surprising turn of events, the team behind popular mobile games Alphabear and Triple Town, Spry Fox, has announced that both its founders and staff members have made significant sacrifices, including substantial pay cuts, to ensure the completion of their upcoming game, which they are touting as their "largest project yet." This comes on the heels of an "extremely quick" departure from Netflix, where the studio had been under the streaming giant’s umbrella since 2022.
Last month, reports from Game File revealed that Netflix was divesting Spry Fox as part of a strategic shift in its gaming approach. This decision followed the closure of its California AAA game studio and the cancellation of various titles in development by external partners.
David Edery, one of the co-founders of Spry Fox, shared details about this transition in a recent post on the company’s website. He mentioned that Spry Fox is now an independent entity, with nearly 50 individuals contributing to the creation of Spirit Crossing, a cozy, multiplayer life simulation game. Edery noted that while the team is primarily composed of full-time employees, some are part-time contractors or collaborators from partner studios. He emphasized that despite the game’s ambitious scope, their workforce is relatively small compared to similar projects that might require double or triple their size.
Edery stated, "To make this work, we’re also making real sacrifices. All of us are taking large pay cuts," revealing that he and co-founder Dan Cook have reduced their annual salaries to a mere $20,000. They have invested personal funds to buy back the studio and decided to allocate most of the equity in the new company to the studio's employees.
Edery expressed a desire for Spry Fox to embody a fairer corporate structure, contrasting it with the more common scenario where executives earn many times what their employees do and hold vast amounts of equity. He wrote, "In a world where executives tend to make 10x the salaries that employees do, and have 100x the equity, we want Spry Fox to be an example of something fairer and hopefully much better. More than ever, we are all in this together."
Describing the process of separating from Netflix as "extremely fast," Edery noted that it took just three months to transition from initial discussions about exploring independence to achieving it—a process that usually takes six to nine months. "We’ve been sprinting to disentangle ourselves. It has been a LOT of work," he admitted.
Reflecting on the state of the gaming industry, Edery acknowledged that it has been a tough period, with numerous companies shutting down, including some renowned studios that have created groundbreaking games. Yet, amidst these challenges, he expressed gratitude for the unexpected opportunity to regain independence during such a tumultuous time.
Looking ahead, Spirit Crossing is set to launch as a free mobile title exclusively for Netflix subscribers, but Spry Fox is also working towards a Steam release, aiming for a beta version in the spring and a full launch later in 2026, with plans to expand to additional platforms thereafter.
The sale of Spry Fox symbolizes Netflix's ongoing retreat from earlier gaming ambitions. There is growing concern within the industry regarding Netflix's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros, which could lead to significant cutbacks in Warner's gaming division. The company's current focus appears to be shifting towards developing games that appeal to a broader audience, particularly those that utilize phones as controllers, aligning with a vision for a social gaming experience reminiscent of Fortnite. Lisa Burgess, General Manager of Netflix Games (Kids), highlighted the importance of providing games for children as a core aspect of the company's strategy, emphasizing recognizable intellectual properties while striving to balance discoverability with parental controls.
