For three years, Netflix has offered, in addition to its series and films, access to exclusive mobile games. The service has spared no effort to beef up its catalog, buying studios and even creating several. And there was no question of making up the numbers: Netflix even wanted to develop AAA multiplatform games.
But these great ambitions have been eroded over the years. Team Blue, the studio in charge of AAA, closed last October. And in its latest quarterly earnings call, Netflix announced that its gaming strategy would focus on “a few key genres”: narrative games based on its own franchises, family-friendly party games, kids’ games, and “established titles” like GTA.
This sounds a lot like Apple Arcade’s refocusing, which in its early days—like Netflix games—specified demanding indie games alongside more mainstream titles. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters admitted that the streaming service’s games had a “relatively small” impact on customer retention.
In other words, Netflix’s subscriber engagement level hasn’t increased much with gaming. And that’s critical: The platform is competing not only with traditional TV, but also with consoles, YouTube, TikTok, and more. The executive acknowledges, however, that Netflix’s investment in video games has been modest compared to the overall budget swallowed up by content.
“We will remain disciplined in increasing this investment,” he continues, “as we see continued growth and benefits for our members.” These investments will go into games that “bring money,” like Squid Game: Unleashed, which is on track to become the most downloaded title — but it is available for free to everyone, including non-subscribers.
This success is of course linked to the launch of season 2 of Squid Game, which “validates the Netflix gaming formula (…): a virtuous circle between linear content and simultaneous gaming offerings.” Not only does this approach “extend the audience’s engagement with a universe and a story, but [it] also creates a synergy that strengthens both mediums.” We should therefore increasingly expect to see games released alongside their series.
Source: MobileGamer.biz
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