Netflix will add video games to its streaming service “next year”. according to the Bloomberg report. The streaming platform has hired Mike Verdu, a former manager of Electronic Arts and Facebook, to lead the project.
A report by The Information in May indicated that Netflix was looking for a video game industry executive to expand its streaming offering. At the time it was reported that Netflix was considering a “bundle” of games like Apple Arcade. However, Bloomberg reported Wednesday that games in Netflix’s video game add-on will be added alongside the company’s current selection – “similar to Netflix with documentaries or stand-up specials,” the report said. Games will not cost extra in the planning at least at this point in time, it said.
Verdu has worked on the The Sims, Plants vs. Zombies, and Star Wars franchises. Netflix expects to hire more positions in its games department “in the coming months,” said Bloomberg.
A Netflix spokesperson told Polygon in May that the company “is excited to do more with interactive entertainment”.
Netflix has already produced games together with third-party developers: a Strange things Mobile game and Stranger Things 3: The Game are under his titles. Netflix is also known for experimenting with interactive experiences through its streaming platform. In 2018 Black mirror: Bandersnatch, a choose-your-own-adventure-style film; it expanded that idea in 2020 for an interactive episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Game-inspired TV shows and movies were also increasingly used as part of the original Netflix franchise, with shows based on Dota, Castlevania, and The Witcher. More video game inspired shows based on Magic the Gathering, Sonic the Hedgehog and League of Legends come too.
Netflix has famously said that its biggest competition for attention Not other streaming platforms. It’s games like Fourteen days which Netflix is competing with and losing, the company said in 2019. More and more companies are trying to build what Epic Games calls its “Metaverse,” a virtual world that is more than a video game. Fourteen days and its gameplay remain a major draw for gamers, but video games are now important social worlds too. Gamers have always used these spaces as social centers, but video game companies are adapting existing structures to offer even more opportunities. Not only will players be able to chat with friends while playing games in Fourteen days and Roblox, but people can now watch movies and go to live concerts too.
We want individual platforms to keep getting more and more of our attention, and Netflix certainly wants a piece of it.
