Netflix Games is coming

In the modern world, if you don't move forward, you go backwards. In practice, this means that no product or service is something definitive but requires either further development or some other expansion. And Netflix is of course no exception.

But what can the service through which we watch streaming movies, series and other content offer? What can separate them from rivals like Amazon Prime, Disney+ and the like?  New movies? New series?... What about games?

The idea is by no means new. As early as 2019 in a letter to shareholders, Netflix management emphasized that games represent an ever-increasing business opportunity and that they will have to be seriously considered. At that time (and even now) Netflix still managed the direct competition in terms of visits, but it was losing to online games such as Fortnite, as it was "stealing screen time", which in practice means that people preferred to play games rather than watch movies and series.

And so they decided to do something. What? They will be offering games too. They already have some experience on this topic, as they offer some so-called interactive films of the Black Mirror: Bandersnatch type, where it is a combination, or rather a fusion of film and game. We will see how the matter develops. Not much is known about the program yet. It is known that they are quite actively looking around for developers to work with them or be willing to sell themselves, they hired Mike Verdu in the summer, who has a very colorful resume in the field of games, which includes names such as Electronic Arts, Zynga, Atari and Oculus, and the move of withdrawing the Netflix-owned game Stranger Things 3 from Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG is also very telling. So things are happening…

What about the price? It is rumored that the games will not be available as a separate service, but will be part of the existing Netflix, or will be available as part of a single subscription. We'll see if and how long it stays that way. Usually this kind of thing happens that a service is initially free or very cheap, but when the user base grows a little, "costs to be covered" quickly appear and the subscription suddenly increases or the said service becomes independent.

And when can we expect Netflix's gaming platform? Apparently the goal is the end of next year… ▪

AI translated