A 'Top-Tier' Netflix Hit, Then Everyone Was Fired

Netflix called FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition a "top-tier" performer. One of its most successful cloud game launches ever. Weeks later, according to multiple former employees, the entire studio that built it was gutted.

Refactor Games, the US-based developer behind the Netflix-exclusive soccer title, has reportedly been shut down after part-owner Delphi Interactive pulled its funding. As first reported by Game Developer, numerous staffers took to LinkedIn over the weekend to announce they'd been laid off. "Delphi just pulled the plug on Refactor Studios right after we shipped the FIFA World Cup game for Netflix," wrote former art director Barclay Chantel. "The entire studio was let go today." Full stack developer Nathan Potter echoed the account, saying the parent company pulled funding and the entire development team was laid off.

Refactor employed a number of former EA Sports, 2K Sports, and OneTeam Partners developers and had previously released Football Simulator into early access in 2022. FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition launched on Netflix Games in June 2026, timed to coincide with the real-world tournament. Critics weren't kind to it, citing poor controls, weak visuals, and bad player AI. But Netflix itself publicly labelled the game a top-tier performer, making the studio closure all the more jarring. The studio was speculated to house over 100 professionals, though the exact number of people affected remains unclear.

Delphi Interactive's website claims the company is "redefining how AAA games are made." I'm not sure what definition of AAA involves shuttering your development team eight weeks after they ship a game your publisher called a success. Neither Delphi nor Refactor has responded to requests for comment from multiple outlets.

FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition remains playable through Netflix Games. Whether it will receive the planned updates leading into next year's Women's World Cup is now an open question with no one left to answer it.