Netflix will be venturing into gaming, with a focus on mobile games, which will be included as part of Netflix subscriptions at no additional cost, according to the company’s second-quarter earnings report on Tuesday.
Netflix has experimented with interactive content like Black Mirror Bandersnatch in the past and also worked on Stranger Things games. Now the company says they’ll be testing gaming under the same subscription and evaluate the response of its members and if this will work for them.
Ahead of this announcement last week, Netflix also hired former Oculus and EA exec Mike Verdu as VP of game development reporting to COO Greg Peters.
“We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV. 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’re excited as ever about our movies and TV series offering, and we expect a long runway of increasing investment and growth across all of our existing content categories, but since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games,” Netflix’s said in its second-quarter earnings report for investors.
At the time, the company hasn’t provided any details into which games or the genres of games they’ll be working on initially.
In the same shareholder report, Netflix also said that they’re competing for screen time not only with Youtube and social networks like TikTok but also with game publishers Epic Games, creators of Fortnite.
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