Netflix is for films and TV, and Game Pass is for video games, right? It’s simple. I don’t expect to get to read eBooks via my Spotify subscription, any more than I would think Hello Fresh would send out movies. This is why I constantly forget that Netflix already has a bunch of games available—96 of them!—and the streamer has just announced it has another 80 in development.
As spotted by Eurogamer, Netflix recently announced in an earnings call (pdf) that the company is working on over 80 new games, with plans to release one a month for…well, presumably for the next six-and-a-half years. The question is, are they games we’re going to want to play?
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While Netflix’s current collection unquestionably contains some utter dross, it also has…some of the best games ever? No, really. GTA Vice City and San Andreas are on there! Hades! Dead Cells! Kentucky Route Zero, World of Goo, The Case of the Golden Idol! And one of my top-five all-time games, Oxenfree. OK, the GTA games aren’t the greatest versions, but at least they don’t cost anything if you’ve got a Netflix sub.
I think the main confusion is how you actually play these games. My assumption was always that they’d load up via Netflix, and I’d be playing it in some laggy stream on an app on my TV not built for the task, so never really bothered. But it’s not that. These are all mobile games, so while you’ll find them in the Netflix app on your device, they install directly from the Google Play store or the iOS store, and run like any other mobile game. Which means, I’ve just realized, I’ve got Oxenfree II, Into the Breach, and Moonlighter to play on my tablet now! Haven’t I been silly?
I’m clearly not the only one, as Netflix Co-CEO Gregory K. Peters explained on the earnings call that while Netflix has exceeded some internal targets with their games, it’s still pretty small-fry. He said it’s worth noting that “engagement and that impact on our overall business at the current scale, it’s still quite small.” As is “investment level in games relative to our overall content spend,” adding that, “the job is to continue to grow that engagement to the place where it has a material impact on the business.”
Which is to say, games aren’t nudging the needle, but he wants them to. A lot of the 80 games he mentions seem to be, er, tie-in projects, designed to accompany an upcoming series. Or in corporate speak:
We’re refining our program to do more of what is working with the 80-plus games that we currently have in development. And one of those things that really is working is connecting our members with games based on specific Netflix IP that they love.
The focus here will be “interactive narrative games,” which he describes as—presumably to the chagrin of many a developer—“easier to build.” These projects will go into something called Netflix Stories, which sounds like it will get a bigger push within the app, presumably pointing people who’ve watched the show toward its related game.
So yeah, while Netflix has certainly funded some splendid indie games in the last couple of years, it does sound like it’s changing direction somewhat. These one-a-month games will be the likes of tie-ins with Emily in Paris, and Selling Sunset, soooooo. Well, let’s not judge—they could be great?
Netflix is basing all this on “taking direction” from users, which given what a dreadful job the company has done of clearly communicating that they were giving away a bunch of fantastic games with no ads and for no extra cost, makes me think it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s far more likely to have caught on with casual viewers looking for casual games, and all credit to that and them. Playing a Stranger Things match-3 is far more likely for a non-gaming audience than realizing they could be playing Dead Cells on their cellphone.
It’s still a great opportunity for indie devs, who can take on gigs making the Wednesday dancing game, or Bridgerton Cut The Rope, and then use the income to pursue passion projects. It’s just perhaps not a continuation of the experiment in funding excellent projects that was a highlight of the last three years.
Still, if nothing else, you’ve just been reminded you don’t need to pay $25 for GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition on your tablet, if you use the link within your Netflix app. (Although it’s worth noting not all of the games are on Android—bah.)
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