On July 15, 2021, Netflix hired former EA and Facebook Executive to lead the future of Netflix in their gaming department. Mike Verdu will join Netflix as Vice President of Game Development. Verdu was beforehand Facebook’s VP, responsible for working with designers to carry games and other elements to Oculus augmented reality headsets.
No news has turned out concerning Netflix’s technique in computer games, Citi expert Jason Bazinet composed that this new move makes clear dangers for bigger game engineers and distributors.
Mobile Games:
On July 20, 2021, Netflix announced that their video game service will be included with their customer’s streaming plans. Meaning there will be no extra cost. There was no announcement on when the service will become available or the games to be in development.
“The reason we’re doing them is to help the subscription service grow and be more important in people’s lives.”- Reed Hastings, Netflix co-CEO
The streaming giant’s chief product officer, Greg Peters, stated their primary focus currently is on mobile gaming. After this stage, they will move into consoles and TV sets. Netflix games will be tied into their most popular shows.
“There’s a big, big prize here, and our job is to be really focused.”- Greg Peters, Netflix chief product officer
The games will in addition not have in-app purchases or ads.
Additional Comments from Peters:
“We don’t have to think about ads, we don’t have to think about in-game purchases or other monetization, we don’t have to think about title purchase…we can just be laser-focused on creating the most entertaining game experiences that we can.”- Greg Peters, Netflix chief product officer
“We’re finding that a lot of game developers are really into that idea and focus and just putting their energy into great gameplay without worrying about those other considerations they’ve had to trade-off instead of just making compelling games.”- Greg Peters, Netflix chief product officer
What may be of more interest to you either as a casual player or a gamer, is the way Netflix has moved toward portable gaming. Mobile gaming is convenient and extremely popular as it is accessible with a touch of an app. Netflix as a streaming service is conveniently available in all mobile app stores and TV sets. It seems the future for their expansion is promising and only logical for accessibility. The streaming giant has always been about entertainment and accessibility. Moving towards mobile gaming first will be an interesting but rational move.