Netflix Sells ‘Cozy Grove’ and ‘Spirit Crossing’ Video Game Studio Spry Fox Back to Original Owners

Netflix is once again reconfiguring its video-game business strategy by selling Spry Fox, the developer behind “Cozy Grove” and the upcoming “Spirit Crossing,” back to the studio’s founders.

Variety has confirmed that Spry Fox, which Netflix acquired in 2022, will spin out and once again become an independent studio. While Netflix will continue to be the publisher for the mobile version of “Spirit Crossing” when it releases next year, the game is now set to be published across more platforms.

The news of Netflix’s Spry Fox sale was first reported by Game File.

“‘Spirit Crossing’ was built to connect the world, bring people together and inspire kindness, so being able to bring the game to as many players, across different platforms, is truly the best thing for the game,” co-founder David Edery said in a statement Wednesday. “We’re so grateful for our time at Netflix and our continued partnership publishing ‘Spirit Crossing’ next year.”

While the unveiling of “Spirit Crossing” was a big announcement for Netflix during its presentation at the Game Developers Conference back in the spring, the streamer has been continuously shifting its strategy for the gaming division since president of games Alain Tascan joined Netflix in late 2024.

The current focus promoted by Netflix is a lineup of party games, narrative games, kids games and mainstream games, as well as more games on TV rather than just mobile titles. Netflix recently released several of these party games for TVs and mobile, as well as “Netflix Puzzled” and third-party titles including “PAW Patrol Academy,” “WWE2K25” and “Red Dead Redemption.” In the coming months, the streamer will release “Best Guess” with hosts Hunter March and Howie Mandel and “Dead Man’s Party: A Knives Out Game.”