Netflix is for movies and TV, and Game Pass is for video games, right? It’s simple. I don’t expect to be able to read ebooks with my Spotify subscription, just as I don’t expect Hello Fresh to stream movies. Which is why I keep forgetting that Netflix already has a bunch of games available—96 of them!—and the streaming service just announced that it has 80 more in development.
As shown By EurogamerNetflix recently announced in Earnings Call (pdf) The company is working on over 80 new games, and plans to release one a month for…well, supposedly six and a half years. The question is, are these games we’ll want to play?
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While Netflix’s current lineup undoubtedly contains some useless stuff, it also contains… some of the best games of all time? No, really. The collection includes GTA Vice City and San Andreas! Hades! Dead Cells! Kentucky Route Zero, World of Goo, The Case of the Golden Idol! And one of my top five games of all time, Oxenfree. Well, GTA games. Not the greatest releasesBut at least it doesn’t cost anything if you have a Netflix subscription.
I think the main confusion is how to play these games. My assumption was always that they would be downloaded via Netflix, and that I would play them in a stuttering stream on an app on my TV that wasn’t designed for that task, so I never bothered. But that’s not the case. These are all mobile games, so while you’ll find them in the Netflix app on your device, they’re installed directly from the Google Play Store or iOS store, and work like any other mobile game. Which means, I just realized, I have Oxenfree II, Into the Breach, and Moonlighter to play on my tablet right now! Wasn’t I being an idiot?
I’m clearly not alone, as Netflix co-CEO Gregory K. Peters explained on the earnings call that while Netflix has exceeded some internal targets with its games, they’re still very small. It’s worth noting that “engagement and its impact on our overall business at current scale is still very small,” he said. As is “the level of investment in games relative to our overall content spend,” adding that “the mission is to continue to grow that engagement to a place where it has a tangible impact on the business.”
That means games don’t drive growth, but he wants to. Many of the 80 games he mentioned appear to be projects tied to upcoming franchises, or as the company’s owners put it:
We’re working on improving our software to do more things that work with the 80+ games currently in development. And one thing that really works is connecting our members to games based on the specific Netflix IP they love.
The project here will focus on “interactive narrative games,” which it describes as “easier to build,” which could upset many developers. These projects will be part of something called Netflix Stories, which appears to be getting a bigger push in the app, potentially directing people who’ve watched the show to the relevant game.
Well, while Netflix has certainly bankrolled some great indie games over the past couple of years, it seems like they’re changing direction somewhat. These will be once-a-month releases like those tied to Emily in Paris and Selling Sunset , so let’s not judge – they could be great, right?
Netflix is basing all of this on “guidance” from users, which makes me think this was a self-fulfilling prophecy, given the company’s terrible job of clearly communicating that it would offer a bunch of great games without ads and at no extra cost. This prophecy is likely to resonate more with casual viewers looking for casual games, and all thanks to that and Netflix. A non-gaming audience is more likely to play a match-3 game of Stranger Things than they are to realize they might be playing Dead Cells on their phone.
This is still a great opportunity for indie developers, who can do work like making a Wednesday Dance game or a Bridgerton Cut The Rope game, and then use the income to pursue their passion projects. This may not just be a continuation of the experiment in funding excellent projects that has been the highlight of the past three years.
However, if nothing else, you’ve just been reminded that you don’t need to pay $25 for GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition on your tablet, if you use the link within the Netflix app. (Though it’s worth noting that not all games are available on Android—duh.)
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