Only available on smartphones for the moment, Netflix is internally testing the possibility of playing its video games on the big screen. The smartphone could be used as a controller.
Netflix thinks big for its video games. The streaming platform is internally testing the possibility of playing its video games directly on the television, using a smartphone as a controller, revealed Bloomberg this Thursday.
This is apparent from the hidden code of the Netflix application on iOS, Apple’s operating system, spotted by developer Steve Moser. “The app’s hidden code on iOS reads: ‘A game on your TV requires a controller to play. Do you want to use your smartphone as a controller?”, he explains on Twitter.
Diversify to better retain subscribers
While it experienced slow growth in 2021 and 2022, Netflix has embarked on a diversification of its content to offer mobile video games. In September 2022, Netflix even announced the creation of its own studio in order to be able to develop 100% in-house titles, without partners.
Video games are included in the Netflix subscription, without advertising, without additional costs and without in-app purchases. Among the titles offered from the launch, “Into the Dead 2: Unleashed”, “Stranger Things 3: The Game” or “Card Blast”. The objective: to retain its subscribers on its platform.
Currently, its games are viewable from the Netflix app, but to play them, you need to download them from app stores, like the App Store and Google Play. An impractical process to democratize its new content.
40 new video games expected in 2023
“As you can imagine, we want Netflix games to be playable on any device,” Leanne Loombe, vice president of external games at Netflix, told The Verge March 20th.
The group had already announced last October that it was working on a video game cloud service, without giving any timetable.
Since the creation of its video game subsidiary, Netflix has released “55 games, which will be joined by around 40 additional titles this year”, quantified in a blog post Leanne Loombe. “Furthermore, 70 new games are being created with our partners and will be added to the 16 titles currently being developed by our in-house studios.”
