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Netflix has acquired Ready Player Me, an Estonia-based avatar technology company, to build unified identities across Netflix Games. Netflix said subscribers will use one digital character across multiple games in its library.
Netflix has not shared the rollout date for the avatar system or the first titles it will support. Ready Player Me will wind down its standalone services on January 31, 2026, including the PlayerZero avatar creator.
Netflix plans to use Ready Player Me’s tools and infrastructure to create portable avatars tied to subscribers' profiles. Players could keep the same look while switching games. Netflix said the system will carry user personas and fandom across titles.
It could also support cross-title onboarding, since players would not have to rebuild a character for each game on Netflix. Ready Player Me says its tech can translate and optimize avatars across different formats.
Financial terms remain undisclosed. Netflix said about 20 Ready Player Me employees will join. Only CTO Rainer Selvet will move over from the founders. Ready Player Me raised $72 million from backers like a16z and Endeavor. It also counted Konvoy, Plural, and angels linked to Roblox and Twitch. Ready Player Me’s CEO said the team built toward avatars that travel across many games and virtual worlds.
Netflix entered the gaming space in 2021 with mobile titles available through subscriber accounts. Netflix framed games as another content category alongside films and series. It later bought studios, licensed games, and released high-profile titles such as GTA: San Andreas. It has also removed games and shut down or returned some studio assets.
Netflix has since reorganized its games business under president Alain Tascan, with reporting that ties the shift to TV-based play. The Verge described a strategy centered on TV party games, as well as family and narrative formats. A unified avatar layer could reduce friction between titles and speed up group play on televisions. Netflix has not provided a release timeline for the feature.
Ready Player Me posted a shutdown notice that covers its public avatar services and PlayerZero. The company has supported avatar exports across Web2 and Web3 apps. It also offers tools for VR platforms such as VRChat. Road to VR noted the platform’s reach into VR avatar workflows and the January 2026 cutoff.
Netflix has not announced XR gaming plans, so the integration likely targets Netflix Games and TV devices first. If Netflix links avatars to progression or cosmetic items, it could add a consistent identity layer across its catalog. Netflix has only said it will build infrastructure that lets users carry personas across games.
