Avowed game director joins Netflix Games developer Night School Studio

Avowed game director Carrie Patel has departed Microsoft-owned Obsidian Entertainment to join Netflix Games. In a post on Linkedin, Patel confirmed she has joined Netflix Games subsidiary Night School Studio as a game director.

Patel spent almost 12 years at Obsidian, initially joining the studio in 2013 as a narrative designer on the Pillars of Eternity series. She subsequently served as narrative co-lead on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire before stepping up as senior narrative designer on The Outer Worlds.

Prior to her departure, she spent five years working as a game director on The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon expansion and Avowed.

The news comes just months after Netflix laid off an unknown number of employees at Night School, which is best known for working on the Oxenfree franchise.

Night School was acquired by the streamer in 2021 as part of a concerted expansion into game development. That push has since yielded mixed results, with Netflix shuttering its only triple-A studio in October 2024 and reshuffling its executive team.

Netflix Games makes key hire after pledging to cause “disruption”

Netflix Games is now attempting to chart a path forward under new president Alain Tascan, who was formerly EVP of game development at Epic Games.

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Tascan shared his vision for the business during a recent press event at GDC 2025 and said Netflix Games must strive to cause “disruption” while admitting it had not yet become the “Netflix of Games.”

“While nothing is guaranteed, if we continue doing the same stuff, there is a big chance we’ll get the same result,” he said. “With Netflix and games [we] have an opportunity to drive real disruption and real innovation with regards to how games are distributed, on what platforms, how we interact with them, and how we engage with the community.”

For Tascan, that means convincing players to jump into the Netflix Games ecosystem by offering new ways to play and leaning into its stable of IP to deliver “Only on Netflix” moments.

“I say sometimes to the team we have a golden ticket, so what are we going to do with it?” he added. “I feel like this is a place where we can experiment and do things that hopefully will make history.”