You probably think of a memorable television program or movie when you think about Netflix.
What did you enjoy the most? game of squid? Bridgerton? Perhaps Stranger Things?
The streaming service hopes that soon video games will be vying for a spot on that list.
Netflix is gradually ratcheting up plans to offer additional gaming experiences to members, saying that games are a crucial component of its proposition to remain relevant with consumers in the years to come.
Since November 2021, games have been playable in the Netflix app, although many users were unaware of this development. According to Loombe, the streaming service has purposefully refrained from “shouting from the rooftops” in favor of taking their time to fully comprehend the industry.
Mobile games are currently being offered, some of which are connected to well-known Netflix titles (like Stranger Things) and others of which are separate from the service (like Reigns: Three Kingdoms).
Currently, they can only be played on mobile devices, though testing to explore how they might function on TVs and desktops are in progress.
According to Shay Thompson, a games journalist, the industry is “littered with the failed attempts” by legacy media organizations to enter the gaming space, so taking a low-key approach is a smart decision.
Experiences like this and the internet giant Google shutting down its Stadia console this year demonstrate how challenging it is for businesses to find a position in the games industry.
Although Amazon’s games branch may not have achieved the same level of success as its Prime Video operation, we still anticipate seeing more games from them in the future. The business is presently developing the upcoming Lara Croft-starring Tomb Raider installment.
According to Loombe, Netflix will likely use its intellectual property much more in the future. We’re attempting to connect various media from our universes, she says, including shows, films, and video games.
That’s precisely what the staff at Ripstone Studios is attempting to do in a hip office location in the heart of Liverpool.
Developers and programmers are hard at work designing the next update for their first partnership with Netflix among the exposed brick, succulent plants, and pop culture artifacts strewn across the desks. As you might have guessed, The Queen’s Gambit is a chess simulator based on Beth Harmon’s exploits in the television series.
The contract to develop games
After the creative executive Jaime Brayshaw unexpectedly sent an email to Netflix, the team was awarded the contract to create the game.
One of the first businesses to team up with the streaming juggernaut to work on their games offering was Ripstone, which has a long history of producing chess games.
In addition to providing additional material to Netflix subscribers in a sector that is becoming more competitive, Brayshaw believes that their collaboration has the potential to advance gaming as an entertainment medium: “Netflix has an audience of 238 million people now,” he says.
Brayshaw isn’t afraid about adding to the long list of failed gaming and movie or television tie-ins since she is confident that this partnership is a “win-win.”
He contends that while there are certainly many examples from the past with poor tie-ins, these instances are typically caused by timeline considerations.
“Netflix has a more mature approach,” says the author, “where the products don’t have to tie together at release, so fewer compromises are needed.”
The streamer will be eager to pick up tips from other major media companies with a solid reputation for working in cinema, television, or technology that have attempted to get into the games industry.
In January, Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service was shut down, while Amazon’s games business has produced a mixed bag of original games.
Although it is currently developing a new Lara Croft game, none of its previous releases have been able to compete with the success of games like Fortnite or Call of Duty. At the studio, there were layoffs early this year.
There is less financial risk for Netflix by concentrating on mobile games, which are less expensive to produce than major console releases. One experience doesn’t need to spend millions on it in order to compete with well-known companies.
The financial repercussions are less severe if a project does not succeed in reaching a large number of participants.
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The flip side of the coin is that in such a cutthroat environment, players will rapidly move on to something else if they are unimpressed by what they are seeing or if they feel it lacks breadth or ambition. Regaining an audience that has switched to another game might be challenging.
We haven’t seen anything like this bottom-up strategy before, and it will take some time before we can assess its effectiveness.
