no one is playing Netflixgame. Well, no, it’s not true – 1% of Netflix subscribers are. But that means over 200 million people have access to, say, one of the best strategy games out there…and probably don’t even know it.
For more casual players, interested in less intensive and more comfortable affairs, there are pomby, Crispy Streetand knitting. If you like Stranger Things And have been humming and running up that mountain and puppet masters since a punch or two at those musical endings, you might find someone you like Stranger Things 3: The Game and Stranger Things: 1984 Both are worth your time.
But chances are you didn’t even know these games were available as part of your subscription fee. Before I started writing this article, I didn’t even know how difficult it was to access games on various platforms – Netflix didn’t communicate about rolling them out to their still-large user base, did it? To complicate things further, you can’t play the game through the app, but instead need to head to the mobile store for your platform of choice (iOS or Android) and download the game from there. Any content available for your Netflix subscription will be marked with a red N logo and listed via a dedicated in-app tab on the home screen. Clicking on it — or finding a related game in your storefront of choice — will prompt a Netflix login, and you can play the game from there. free.
It’s not exactly torture, but it’s certainly a few more steps than it takes to watch the latest show or movie. So it’s no wonder that 99% of Netflix users don’t even make the effort to get a game through their subsystem. But that 1% — let me tell you, they have a great life. They can simulate Moonlighter jobs with a truly incredible standalone roguelite cum store management for free! They can kiss the tarmac of the Asphalt Xtreme. They save the planet time and time again, in Into the Breach. I tell you, if you’ve ever played Exploding Kittens with your buddies in real life, you need to check out the Netflix list of games — there’s something for everyone.
Separately, Netflix’s downloads and actual audience metrics don’t look all that bad: A CNBC report put these games on about 23 million downloads worldwide, with an average of about 1.7 million subscribers. There are some independent publishers and platforms out there that might be killed by this involvement. But, on the whole, that’s paltry for Netflix: Those numbers represent just 1% of the company’s 221 million subscribers.
For gamers with a Netflix subscription, it’s only going to get better: There are currently 24 (mostly excellent) games on the service. That number will more than double to 50 by the end of the year, according to plans outlined by the platform. If two or three of them are of the same or better quality than what we’ve seen in Netflix’s thriving catalog, it’s a no-brainer to get them on your mobile device and start streaming. But if no one takes advantage, will Netflix bother to keep dealing with publishers and developers?
Netflix has been in the market for less than a year. As our friends at GamesIndustry.biz put it, 1% of Netflix users downloading games is “a good start”. I’m just worried that with such low coverage, the company’s gaming division — which has had some well-documented issues with subscriber retention and redundancy lately — will decide it’s not worth it and shut down early. It won’t be a disaster for Ouya proportions, but for those of us Brits paying £15.99 a month for a 4k tier subscription (easy) to lose £100 worth of games will certainly be a pain to know about it.
Netflix has never been big on marketing, nor has it ever been too showy about its product (said Craig Chapple, EMEA Mobile Insights Strategist at Sensor Tower, in the linked GI.biz article). But, especially with games, this is really starting to have an impact on the platform. In terms of the future, it’s hard to see what Netflix wants: we know the studio acquired Oxenfree developer Night School Studio as early as 2021, and then mobile developers Next Games and Boss Fight Entertainment in March 2022. Things also continue its obsession with gaming (just look at all the Witcher, Arcane, and Castlevania content that has come out, not to mention the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 and Tekken shows).
Obviously Netflix has a lot of trouble integrating with the gaming world – I’m just praying that more people heed the call and start downloading mobile games using their Netflix login so we can all enjoy this well-prepared service, delivering top-notch iOS and Android games for years to come.
You can see the full list of games available on Netflix here.
