Did you know that Netflix makes games, now? That’s not a revelation. Our streaming overlords have punted the additional functionality for some years, (mostly) staying in its lane: mobile games. In that time, it’s added (and lost) several popular third-party titles like GTA, while developing its own brand of first-party games like Squid Game: Unleashed. But the goal isn’t to remain mobile forever. Netflix plans to crack the entire genre in time.
That means making its games available everywhere—on your computer, TV, and smartphones. It’s been slow to make that a reality, focusing primarily on the mobile scene while it develops the expansion in the background. Small, localised beta tests are already underway worldwide. But now it seems Netflix will continue to invest in the ‘cloud gaming’ gambit, according to the streamer’s most recent Q4 2024 financial results.
You got games on your… TV?
“Going forward, we’re focusing on offering best-in-class titles in a few key genres including immersive, narrative games based on our IP, socially engaging party games, games for kids and mainstream established titles (like Grand Theft Auto),” it said. “While we started in mobile, our goal is to make our games accessible on all device types over time and in 2025 we’ll continue to test and expand our offering of cloud games on TV.”
Aggressively targeting “narrative games” based on Netflix’s IP in the gaming space seems like a no-brainer, but it’s the company’s comments deciding to pursue party titles that interest us most. In the company’s most recent official earnings transcript, co-CEO Gregory Peters mentions that:
“We’ll also be introducing party and couch co-op games on TV delivered from the cloud. We think of this as a successor to family board game night or an evolution of what the game show on TV used to be. So we’re excited about delivering some cool experiences in that space.”
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Online party games would certainly prove to be a boon for the subscriber base, especially if Netflix can deliver something in the same vein as Nintendo’s Mario Party or, more likely, the Jackbox Games series if indeed that is the route they’re taking. Earlier tests of the cloud gaming idea showed that Netflix was working on a way to allow customers to use their smartphones as a controller when playing on TV.
Netflix didn’t exactly say when subscribers may see a more public rollout of this feature, but this being the first update on the subject since 2023, plus the confirmation that it would continue to invest in the area, indicates to us that Netflix has something ready to release sooner, rather than later.
