Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
In the past months, Netflix has been gearing up to take much bigger role in gaming. The streaming service has worked in parallel to the game industry nearly since it first came out, and recently it has made major efforts to work towards a gaming service of its own. That has culminated in recent executive hiring for its new game division, but we didn’t really have any confirmation as to what form Netflix gaming would take outside of speculation and rumor. That said, Netflix’s (NFLX) recent shareholder letter shed some light on the matter. Apparently, not only will Netflix games be focused on mobile devices, but they will also be bundled into regular Netflix subscriptions without further cost.
Netflix released its recent Q2 2021 shareholder letter on its investor relations website on July 20, 2021. According to the shareholder letter, Netflix gaming is planned to be an effort focused mostly on mobile devices. Moreover, it will come at no extra cost. This effort will be bundled into Netflix subscriptions as part of its regular services.
“Games will be included in members’ Netflix subscription at no additional cost, similar to films and series,” the shareholder letter reads near the end of Page 4. “Initially, we’ll be primarily focused on games for mobile devices.”
For those who were interested in Netflix’s invigorated gaming effort, but not in paying another subscription fee, that will likely come as welcome news. What’s more, while the letter states the initial focus will be mobile games, it seems Netflix isn’t ruling out expanding this effort onto other platforms in the future either.
It was back in May this year that Netflix made its gaming plans known, having worked parallel to the video game industry with a number of successful adaptation TV series and features for years. Previous rumors suggested that Netflix might pursue a subscription model similar to Apple Arcade. The company also solidified its intentions as well with the hiring of former Facebook Gaming VP Mike Verdu to lead up the new Netflix gaming division.
With that in mind, it seems existing Netflix customers and subscribers have little more to do than wait for the company’s gaming plans to come to fruition. Stay tuned for detail as we continue to follow this story and the latest moves by Netflix into the gaming space.