Back in May, we reported that Netflix was trying to expand into video gaming. Now the company has confirmed its gaming plans in the earnings report for Q2, 2021. The company confirms that gaming will be available to Netflix members in the existing subscriptions at no additional cost. It will initially focus on mobile games.
We got to know about Netflix’s gaming plans back in May when the company was hitting an executive to head the video gaming business. It also approached several gaming executives to join and lead Netflix’s gaming plans. Later the company confirmed it hired former EA and Oculus exec Mike Verdu to lead the gaming segment.
“We’re also in the early stages of further expanding into games, building on our earlier efforts around interactivity (eg, Black Mirror Bandersnatch) and our Stranger Things games. We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation, and unscripted TV,” Netflix said in its letter to investors, “Games will be included in members’ Netflix subscription at no additional cost similar to films and series. Initially, we’ll be primarily focused on games for mobile devices.”
We still do not know much about games Netflix plans to release. There is also no word on how these games will be delivered to Netflix subscribers.
2020 was a big year for Netflix. The company added 16 million new customers in three months when people were stuck at home and movie theaters were closed. In 2021, the growth has slowed and the company added just 1.5 million subscribers in Q2.
Gaming is the hot segment that grew exponentially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent forays by Apple, Amazon.com, and Alphabet have already made the gaming segment more interesting. Let’s see what Netflix can offer to attract customers.
