Highlights
- Netflix has launched its game streaming beta in the US, following its release in Canada and the UK in August 2023.
- Despite often being overlooked, Netflix offers a range of games included in the subscription price, with no additional fees or ads.
- The beta test aims to assess game streaming technology on various devices, and Netflix plans to expand to additional TVs as well as PCs in the future.
Netflix is finally bringing its game streaming beta to the US, after the August 2023 rollout of the service in Canada and the UK. The movie and television streaming company has been trying to break into gaming for several years now, though it has yet to claim success by most metrics. Many people seem to have forgotten that the company even has more than movies and TV shows, though Netflix offers some pretty addicting adventure games that are worth subscribers checking out.
Most of the titles offered by Netflix are available on other platforms, and perhaps that’s why the service is often overlooked. The fact that they’re currently only on mobile might be another turnoff for some. However, the appeal is that playing games via Netflix is included in the subscription price, and there are no additional fees, in-app purchases, or ads. And the platform is slowly beginning to attract industry veterans like Joe Staten, a former 343 Industries creative lead for Halo Infinite who is now working on a AAA game for Netflix.
Netflix is also planning to branch out from mobile to TVs and PCs, which is the purpose of the current games streaming beta. For now, only two games are included in the ongoing test: Night School Studio’s Oxenfree and Molehew’s Mining Adventure, a “gem-mining arcade game.” On October 16, the beta test began to roll out in the United States, though it’s unclear just who is eligible to participate or how they are selected.
The beta test is intended to gauge Netflix’s game streaming technology on various devices, including Amazon Fire, Chromecast by Google, LG and Samsung TVs, Roku, Nvidia Shield, and Walmart ONN, and the company plans to add more in the future. Netflix has already released a controller app for Android and iPhone to play games on the range of devices, though for many gamers, playing via a phone app will not be appealing. So hopefully, if the program proves successful, an actual controller will eventually be in the works as well.
Video games are becoming increasingly mainstream, particularly with the growth of mobile as a viable and highly lucrative platform, and adapting games into movies or shows is proving more successful than ever. Netflix has witnessed this firsthand with its The Witcher TV series and the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime based on CD Projekt Red’s award-winning RPG, and so making both types media available through a single service makes sense. Though it was less well received, the company also ventured into the world of Resident Evil with its 2022 show, and Netflix is also working on a Horizon Zero Dawn television adaptation.
Source: The Verge