Netflix online gaming is the next big thing in the streaming industry
Netflix's vice president of gaming, Mike Verdu,
revealed two specific details concerning the streaming giant's entry into games
at TechCrunch Disrupt. He stated that Netflix is "seriously
researching a cloud gaming offering." Additionally, the business will
launch a fresh gaming studio in Southern California.
“It’s a value add. We’re not asking you to subscribe
as a console replacement,” Verdu. “It’s a completely different business model.
The hope is over time that it just becomes this very natural way to play games
wherever you are.”
However, he did disclose that Netflix is expanding its
internal studio in Southern California in order to speed up its game
production. The list also includes Boss Fight Entertainment, Night School
Studio, and Finland's Next Games, all of which, according to TechCrunch, are
built to develop games that cater to various preferences.
The announcement follows a difficult year for Netflix
(NFLX), which reported losing members, the first time in the past ten
years, and had its stock fall more than 60% in 2022 due to a general
market decline. Tom Forte, the senior research analyst at D.A. Davidson, said he
views the shift into gaming as a proof of the streaming
giant "playing offense, not just defense," despite ongoing
cost-cutting initiatives.
Considering the amount of time
individuals spend playing and streaming video games, Forte noted that
Netflix was exceptionally adept in sensing soon enough that gaming was a
competitive threat to their audience. This transition also gives Netflix
another option to make money off of some of its more well-known franchises,
including the "Stranger Things" television show.
Former "Overwatch" executive producer Chacko
Sonny will serve as the studio's director in California. "Overwatch"
was a huge hit at Blizzard Entertainment, earning billions of dollars. Following
an SEC investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination
at the gaming company, Sonny made his resignation from Blizzard public
last year.
In an attempt to sell video games that gamers can play
without having a costly computer or console, Google's Stadia and Amazon's Luna
both made a similar move. However, these services have had trouble becoming
widely used. Google just announced that Stadia would be discontinued in January
2023.
“While Stadia’s approach to streaming games for
consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the
traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to
begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” said Stadia VP and GM Phil
Harrison, in a blogpost.
According to a blog post by Netflix's VP of Game
Studios, Marko Lastikka, a seasoned executive from gaming behemoths Zynga and
Electronic Arts, will lead the new game firm.
With Monday's announcement, Netflix now has four
gaming studios in total. The business had already purchased Night School Studio
and Boss Fight Entertainment in addition to Next Games. Rahimi from Netflix
claimed that each studio has "different strengths and focus areas"
and that they will work together to create a wide range of games for Netflix subscribers.
While not yet
accessible on other consoles, Netflix games can be assessed and played
on Android smartphones and tablets as well as on iPhone, iPad, and iPod
Touch. Offerings include "Stranger Things: 1984," a classic adventure
game, and "Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story."
According to Apptopia data, 1.63 million users played
Netflix games every single day in the previous month. This amount only accounts
for a miniscule portion of the 220 million paid subscribers of the company which
have been downloaded almost 30 million times worldwide.
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