Netflix has been in the gaming space for a little while, with a number of Netflix show tie-ins and some republished third-party titles. These are all available on iOS and Android, and they’re doing pretty well.
Now, Netflix is looking for ways to deliver those games through your TV. It’s an interesting twist on their usual business model, and it’s got some people (like us) asking questions.
Sure, every other media company and their dog created a streaming service of their own. Sure, Netflix has had to depend more on original content, to decidedly mixed reception. Sure, we’re all still mad at them for canceling Inside Job, and refusing to give great shows more than two seasons. They obviously need something, some way to diversify their product lineup.
But why gaming?
As a full time tech writer, gaming addict, and TV/Film aficionado, I have been tasked with getting to the bottom of this. After some research, I have a few ideas.
More Revenue Streams
Netflix is one of the few elite tech companies that comprise FAANG: Facebook (now known as Meta), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. What do all those other companies have that Netflix, until recently, didn’t?
A boatload of different products, services, and revenue streams. Until Netflix launched its gaming arm, it really only did one thing: give people a way to watch TV shows and movies. And now it’s only streaming that media, because its DVD rental service shut down on September 20th, 2023.
It’s rare for a company that big to do only one thing. While people will always want something to watch, you never want to have all your eggs in one basket. Besides, what self respecting tech giant wouldn’t want to do like fifty different things? But the social media landscape is swamped, the search market has been cornered, manufacturing is a pain, and Netflix’s main area of expertise is entertainment. In that context, why not gaming?
Increased Competition in the Streaming Industry
As mentioned above, everybody wants a piece of the streaming action. You can rent movies on YouTube, not to mention all the sites that are essentially Netflix clones. They may be built by the companies that own the media, or they might be third-party, but we all know where they got their inspiration.
As a result, Netflix is having to rely more heavily on original content, and that’s had… mixed success. For every Stranger Things, there have been at least 10 shows that never made it past a single season, and fewer that got further than season 2.
This has made expansion into non-streaming products less of a “nice to have” and more of a necessity. Netflix probably won’t be the king for much longer, not with competitors like Disney+ entering the fray.
It Increases the Value of the Main Service
It must be said that access to Netflix games is not paid for separately. Sure, these games can be referred to as a “separate revenue stream” in the sense that people pay to access them, and they’re mostly not on the main service. However, they actually come with a regular Netflix subscription.
Pay for the shows, get all the games too.
This incentivizes signups, and disincentivizes cancellations as well. Who would want to cancel before they finish the game, after all? They’ll get around to it. Eventually. After a few more quests in… you get the idea.
It Keeps the Netflix Brand in Front of Eyeballs
While some of the games are remastered third-party titles, many of them are tie-in games that revolve around Netflix’s own original shows. Essentially, these games increase overall engagement with Netflix’s biggest IPs. Those IPs are keeping Netflix alive right now.
And if viewers don’t have to leave the world of The Queen’s Gambit or Stranger Things just because there aren’t any new episodes yet, so much the better.
It’s an Inevitable Expansion of Netflix’s Business Model
As mentioned above, Netflix deals in entertainment. For its first foray outside of streaming, it probably wants to stick to what it knows, more or less. What comes after streaming media? Interactive media!
And it’s not like Netflix hasn’t experimented with interactive media in other forms. That choose-your-own-adventure Black Mirror: Bandersnatch episode gained considerable attention for its contribution to the media landscape.
But smartphones and the Google Play/iOS stores are only the beginning. Netflix has tested delivering games via the Netflix app on the following platforms:
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- Amazon Fire TV streaming media players
- Chromecast with Google TV
- LG TVs
- Nvidia Shield TV
- Roku devices and TVs
- Samsung Smart TVs
- Walmart ONN
- More devices are to be added later
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It’s a very limited beta test, featuring only two games: Oxenfree and Molehew’s Mining Adventure. The controller? Your smartphone. They’re trying to deliver games without making you buy any new hardware, and that’s something not even Stadia managed to do.
Netflix isn’t the only media company trying something like this. YouTube is looking to use the leftover tech from Stadia to make good on an old promise. If you’ve watched a trailer for a game, and it looks like fun, you may soon be able to instantly play that game via YouTube, right in your browser.
You might still need an external controller for that, however.
Here, Netflix has something of an edge. Smart TVs abound, and many of them run some version of Android, either directly or under the hood.
Netflix and Gaming: Will It Work?
Netflix’s expansion into gaming is already working, if the number of games it’s published is anything to go by. Both Android and iOS have roughly 75 games available, in a myriad of genres, with more on the way. That might sound like a lot, but that’s one of the major benefits of building mobile games over conventional PC/console releases.
Making mobile games means Netflix can make a lot of them, fast, and iterate quickly. Smartphones are the most popular gaming devices in the world, so this approach allows Netflix to broaden its audience while minimizing the risk.
Other advantages of Netflix’s strategy include:
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- A massive existing audience
- Myriad possible avenues of delivery
- Brand recognition that many game developers and publishers could only dream of
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The disadvantages are few, but notable:
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- There is an enduring distrust of tie-in games
- Much of the audience isn’t made up of gamers (this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that they’re mobile games)
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I think Netflix’s gaming arm has a very strong chance of lasting as long as the company does. It hasn’t overpromised anything, and seems to be focused on laying the foundation for some big changes, but it’s doing it carefully and quietly.
Final Thoughts: Netflix’s Strategic Leap
Let’s recap. Netflix’s reasons for getting into the gaming space are many, and include such timeless classics as:
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- Diversifying its product and potential revenue streams
- Making more money
- Maintaining interest in its original productions
- Making more money
- Retaining subscribers
- I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned making more money
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Netflix’s approach to games (sticking to the mobile market, the future delivery of games via your TV) is a smart one. It certainly seems to have managed a steadier sort of success than Amazon. After all, Amazon went straight for the hardcore gamer audience, and has encountered significant setbacks.
I strongly suspect that games will remain a part of Netflix’s strategy for some time to come, as it sets it apart from other streaming platforms.
If you can’t wait to try Netflix’s games for yourself, but your school or work blocks streaming services, CyberGhost VPN is the answer. It’s the best way to hide all your internet traffic and bypass network blocks. Heck, you could watch some Netflix on your break, too.
FAQ
The short answer, as so often happens, is money. Netflix has been doing mostly one thing for a very long time, and it needs new ways to keep users around. With the advent of multiple competitors, Netflix has opted for diversification over head-on competition.
Moreover, many of the games are tie-ins with Netflix’ existing original productions. What better way to keep Stranger Things fresh in your mind than to have you play a game about it on your phone every day?
You can already play a large number of games on Android phones and iPhones alike. As for when games will be available on your TV via the Netflix app, that remains to be seen. The functionality is already being tested for a limited number of users, on a growing list of platforms.
Best of all, if you have a good smart TV, you probably won’t need to buy any new hardware. You’ll be using your smartphone as the controller, after all.
There are around 75 Netflix-published games on both the iOS and Google Play stores. I should note, however, that some of these are third-party games that have been republished for the Netflix platform. You’ll see some classic online arcade titles mixed in with the franchise tie-ins.
It’s hard to tell without concrete numbers, but on the Google Play store, the lowest rating I’ve seen is 2.5 out of 5. Many more are in the 3 to 4.7 range, indicating that most people are satisfied enough with these games. Of course, with around 75 of them to choose from, ratings are bound to vary widely.
Ratings on the Apple store seem to average a little higher, with quite a few games in the 4 to 4.8 range. Whether this speaks to a difference in taste, or higher quality ports on iOS is uncertain.
On Android, most of the games have over 100,000 downloads, with some few having over 500K to over 1 million. It certainly seems that a good number of people are trying most of the Netflix games, and some of those games have even earned a measure of real popularity.
iOS does not have download numbers available, but it’s worth noting that Android phones outnumber iPhones by a large margin, with an over 70% market share.
We are unaware of any particular bans on Netflix games, except perhaps in countries where most or all games are banned. However, if you’re having any trouble accessing any of these games, you may want to consider a VPN service to help you access them safely… or at all.
Still, they should be available wherever Netflix is available.
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