Games Along With Shows and Movies: What Is Netflix Playing At?

The company is expanding to a new form of entertainment, how it plans to proceed is still unclear

Netflix is getting into gaming, for better or worse, but it seems that the company only means to do it in a low-key manner for the time being. Does it even make sense to do it that way? (Image: Netflix)

After months of rumors and speculation that made no sense initially, Netflix finally confirmed that it’s officially entering the gaming market: the announcement was made by Mike Verdu, vice president of game development at Netflix — yes, apparently there is such a role already — and while several key details were clarified, there’s a number of questions still unanswered. The most important of those: why?

First things first: yes, the games Netflix is offering are free for consumers to keep (as long as their subscription is active). Yes, there are no ads, no in-app purchases, no other associated fees in those games. Yes, they are available from inside the Netflix app and downloaded through the Google Play store for Android smartphones or tablets. But also: no, they are not available for iOS yet (it’s not clear yet whether it’s Apple’s fault or not). No, the games are not many, only five (5) in fact. No, there’s not a single one among them that’s genuinely exciting. Stranger Things: 1984, Stranger Things 3: The Game, Shooting Hoops, Card Blast and Teeter Up will not set the world on fire, let alone be considered a strong start in a new market for Netflix.

So… why? Furthermore, why now?

Mobile games installed and launched from within the Netflix app are… interesting, but the company has to have a solid plan in place if this expansion to a new content market is to help it long-term. (Image: Netflix)

The timing seems to be of no importance, more or less: ever since Netflix confirmed the acquisition of Oxenfree developer Night School Studio in September, all that was needed as proof for the company’s intentions was a formal announcement, which we just got. The poor, almost pathetic selection of games offered, to start, seems to imply that even Netflix itself wanted this launch to be low-key anyway. So it’s the why rather than the why now that matters and, well, there are several possible reasons one can think of beyond Verdu’s “we all love games”. We do, of course, but it’s not that simple.

One possible reason has been mentioned by both Reed Hastings and Ted Sarantos in the past: Netflix understands that, in…