Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters confirmed the streaming service is expanding into gaming during the company’s latest earnings report. Journalist Julia Alexander transcribed part of Hastings’ and Peters’ declarations about the upcoming offer of video games on Netflix on her Twitter account, in which the duo also explains the company’s approach to the expanded service.
According to Peters, video games won’t be offered by Netflix as a new product. Instead, games will be included in the current service as a way to provide more entertainment options for the consumer. In Peters’ words, Netflix sees this expansion “as an extension of the core entertainment offering. Similar to the trajectory of when we added new genres, the same will happen with games.” However, there’s no deadline for introducing video games on the Netflix service, as Peters underlines that “this will be a multi-year, slow effort."
During the report, Peters also explained how adding games could be a great investment, as offering interactive media can increase the value of franchises owned by the streaming service. However, Netflix’s plan won’t be limited to creating games derived from its original movies and series. As Peters explains it:
"Part of that will be games that extend our IP. We think that's a very, very rich space. But we'll do things where we try standalone games. Ultimately, this initiative is about making great games, and those can come from a variety of different sources. Maybe one day, we'll see a game that spawns a film or series... We'll also do licensing. It's a great way to increase the volume of the offering that we have at the start, to learn more quickly, and as our internal production scales, we can focus the energy."
The best news for consumers is that the expansion towards video games won’t use microtransactions, as Netflix is more concerned with building solid experiences than increasing their profit marge with shady mechanics. Peters is clear that the partnership the streaming platform will make with developers aims to create the best gaming experience possible without artificial barriers to induce players to spend more money through in-game purchases. As Peters puts it:
"We don't have to think about ads, we don't have to think about in-game purchases, or other monetization, we don't have to think about title purchase...we can just be laser-focused on creating the most entertaining game experiences that we can."
If Netflix indeed adds games to their impressive catalog with no additional costs, the streaming service might gain a considerable advantage face of its competitors. A centralized service of movies, series, and games is still unprecedented and could the landscape of the streaming market.
Check Alexander’s original thread below: