View source for News/Netflix Acquires Ready Player Me

{{News
|seo_title=Netflix Acquires Ready Player Me
|seo_keywords=Netflix
|image=Netflix_Logo.jpg
|tags=Netflix
|date=2025-12-22T10:43:56.000Z
|sources={{NewsSource
|source=Games Industry
|url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/netflix-acquires-games-avatar-firm-ready-player-me
|article=News/Netflix Acquires Ready Player Me
}}
|author=Andura
|category=More
|content=Netflix has acquired avatar technology company Ready Player Me as part of its ongoing push into gaming, according to a report by TechCrunch. The deal was completed for an undisclosed amount and will see the Estonian startup formally shut down on January 31, 2026.

As part of the acquisition, Ready Player Me’s staff will transition to [[Companies/Netflix|Netflix]], though only one of the company’s founders will be joining the streaming giant. Chief technology officer Rainer Selvet is set to move over, while the remaining founders will not take on roles at Netflix. At the time of writing, Netflix has not confirmed when Ready Player Me’s avatar technology will be made available to its global audience.

The acquisition is expected to strengthen Netflix’s gaming ecosystem by allowing users to create persistent avatars that can be used across multiple games on the platform. Ready Player Me is best known for its cross-game avatar system, which enables players to carry a single digital identity across different titles and experiences.

Ready Player Me was founded in 2013 by Rainer Selvet, Haver Järveoja, Kaspar Tiri and Timmu Tõke. Since its inception, the company has raised a total of $72m in funding, including investment from venture capital firm a16z. Over the years, the startup evolved from experimenting with hardware scanners and personal avatar technology into becoming a widely used avatar platform for game developers.

Commenting on the acquisition in a LinkedIn post, Ready Player Me CEO Timmu Tõke said the company would be joining Netflix to “contribute to their gaming strategy”.

“Our team will be joining Netflix to contribute to their gaming strategy with our cross-game avatar tech, enabling players to carry their identities and fandom across games,” Tõke wrote.

Reflecting on the company’s journey, he added: “We started the company 12 years ago with Rainer, Kaspar and Haver. We were 20-year-olds from small towns in Estonia. We knew nothing about tech or startups, but were obsessed with avatars. Over the last 12 years, we have built many different products around avatars, from hardware scanners to personal avatar tech and eventually launching Ready Player Me more than 5 years ago.

“I’m very proud of the work with did with Ready Player Me, pushing cross-game interoperability further than anyone else before and serving thousands of developers.”

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