Mikey Campbell
Netflix on Tuesday offered additional details on its push into gaming, saying its first steps will be to create original titles that existing subscribers can access at no additional cost.
Last week, Netflix announced the hire of former EA and Facebook executive Mike Verdu, who is set to head up the streaming giant's gaming division under the supervision of COO Greg Peters.
In a second quarter earnings report on Tuesday (PDF link), Netflix hinted at plans to enter the crowded gaming market, saying the endeavor will be treated as a new content category similar to the company's foray into original films and unscripted TV.
We're also in the early stages of further expanding into games, building on our earlier efforts around interactivity (eg, Black Mirror Bandersnatch) and our Stranger Things games. We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV. Games will be included in members' Netflix subscription at no additional cost similar to films and series. Initially, we'll be primarily focused on games for mobile devices. We're excited as ever about our movies and TV series offering and we expect a long runway of increasing investment and growth across all of our existing content categories, but since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games.
There's no word on what Netflix intends to bring to the table, but the company could initially lean on its deep content library and concentrate on value-added content. As noted by The Verge, Netflix recently extended an existing TV deal with Shonda Rhimes to include feature films and games.
With a growing podcast lineup, the company has shown a willingness to create spinoffs based on popular shows and prominent personalities. It could do the same with games.
Also unclear is how Netflix games will be distributed. The company might release them individually through the App Store, though it could conceivably go the route of Apple Arcade and Microsoft's xCloud by fielding a first-party network.
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8 Comments
How would one play a game with a Roku remote? I guess that’s for Mike Verdu to know/figure out and me to find out. Sounds like an input peripheral nightmare.
"The company might release them individually through the App Store"
Yeah right
"though it could conceivably go the route of Apple Arcade"
Not happening
"Microsoft's xCloud by fielding a first-party network"
We have a winner! Google, Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon all tried to create "Netflix for games". Well now we are going to have Netflix do a Netflix for games.
Thinking that they are going to do anything but what Google and the rest have done is hilarious. Netflix isn't an app developer like Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Google. Netflix is their sole app and they have it on every conceivable platform. They also don't have platforms to push like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google (plus Nvidia if you count GPU-based hardware platforms). They also don't have hardware like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia and Google. Meaning that they are going to add a "games" section to their existing TV and movie sections in the Netflix app.
Forcing Google, Microsoft and Amazon to make PWAs when they have less than 100 million subscribers combined - with the vast majority of them on Microsoft (who get xCloud as a throw-in for the existing XBox and Windows centered GamePass subscriptions) and most of the rest on Nvidia - is one thing. Telling Netflix - the #2 streaming app in the world behind YouTube - that they can't add a major feature that is going to be present on Android and the other competitors is a whole other matter. We are going to see if Apple is going to stick to their "need to review each individual app for security, content etc." guns or if they are going to have to be forced to let Stadia, xCloud, GeForce Now and Luna through in order to accommodate Netflix.
Using "subscriber" and "free" in the same sentence is a bit misleading, considering Netflix raises their monthly subscription fees all the time (yearly, on average). It's still true, but just ... barely.