It’s no secret that Netflix has come a long way with its gaming ambitions, and those moves are paying dividends, making the company one of the biggest publishers in mobile gaming, with ambitions to expand onto other platforms.
Part of the strength of Netflix’s gaming attempt is the diverse list of IPs under the company’s umbrella. While the company has made big business from publishing third-party titles on its platform, it has also released several mobile games based on its own properties, including massive hits such as Stranger Things.
Additionally, the company realised quickly that their business was dependant on the content other companies would give them – or whether they could afford the license should a distributor charge a high fee. Creating original content lets the company circumvent this, and the move has proven massively successful.
Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that the company is working to release several new games based on its IPs in the coming months, including massive hits such as Squid Game, Wednesday, and Black Mirror.
TV goes mobile
Netflix’s gaming strategy is based not on revenue, but user retention. The company reportedly earns nothing from its games, but by providing them it offers another avenue to engage with users between seasons, just as fans can rewatch old favorites on the platform in between new seasons. with 70.5 million downloads across its portfolio as of September 20 – more than doubling the 30.4 million reported last September – it’s clear that users are increasingly engaged in Netflix’s gaming offerings. An increase in the number of titles based on its existing IPs only sweetens the deal.
While we don’t know what form the new games will take, but Netflix has built a portfolio of games in a variety of genres, including visual novels on the newly launched Netflix Stories app. With a vast catalogue of established IPs with their own built-in fanbases, there is plenty of space for new adaptations, not only expanding Netflix’s gaming platform but potentially attracting new users to Netflix’s wider offerings.
We listed Netflix as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2023.
