Rumours surrounding a potential move into gaming have been confirmed by Netflix, with the intent to begin offering mobile games.
In their Q2 financial statement to investors, the company confirmed rumours stating:
‘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.’
According to the statement, games will be added into the monthly Netflix subscription at no additional cost with the primary focus, at least initially, on mobile games.
To bring about the move into gaming, Netflix has hired ex-Electronic Arts and Facebook exec, Mike Verdu. Verdu worked on popular titles at EA including The Sims, Star Wars, and Plants vs. Zombies, as well as bringing new developers to the Oculus platform at Facebook.
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings says the move to gaming is due to a slow down in new subscriptions, which fell this quarter after a bumper quarter this time last year due to the pandemic. Hastings said “The reason we’re doing them is to help the subscription service grow and be more important in people’s lives”.
Launching their own mobile games is similar to the companies move into original films, TV and animations on the service, adding another facet to the Netflix offering. Netflix sees value add in gaming, similar to the Play Something feature the company recently launched.
No exact date has been announced for the launch of Netflix gaming, so stay tuned.
