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The Estonian ecosystem continues to produce world-class companies, even during the Christmas break. This week, Netflix announced that it has acquired Ready Player Me, the Estonian company behind cross-platform digital avatar technology. This is another expansion of the streaming giant’s gaming ambitions beyond mobile titles toward interactive experiences for television screens.
The deal sees approximately 20 Ready Player Me employees joining Netflix’s gaming division. Financial terms were not disclosed, although the acquisition represents an exit for investors who had backed the company with $72M in venture funding, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Estonian-founded Plural, Endeavor, and Konvoy Ventures, alongside angel investors from Roblox, Twitch, and King Games.
From Estonian experiment to global platform
Founded in 2014 by four Estonians—Timmu Tõke, Rainer Selvet, Kaspar Tiri, and Haver Järveoja—Ready Player Me began as what Tõke described as “a fascination rather than a business plan.”
The founders, self-described as “20-year-olds from small towns in Estonia who knew nothing about tech or startups,” spent years experimenting with hardware body scanners and avatar software before launching the current platform over five years ago.
The company’s technology allows users to create a single digital avatar that works across multiple games and virtual environments, promoting cross-game interoperability. This idea gained significant traction during the metaverse and Web3 gaming boom.
What changes
Of the four founders, only CTO Rainer Selvet will join Netflix. Ready Player Me’s standalone services, including its online avatar creation tool PlayerZero, will shut down January 31, 2026.
“Our vision has always been to enable avatars and identities to travel across many games and virtual worlds,” Selvet said. “Now we get to do that at a scale we could never reach on our own.”
Netflix plans to integrate Ready Player Me’s technology into its gaming offerings, allowing subscribers to carry personalized digital identities and fan preferences across different titles—creating more connected gaming experiences alongside its television and film content.
According to the industry-focused media, the acquisition highlights a strategic pivot for Netflix under games president Alain Tascan, formerly of Epic Games. After entering the gaming industry four years ago with mobile titles that yielded mixed results, the company is now focusing on TV-based, party-style, and narrative-driven experiences. Estonian-made tech will help make this a reality.
