When Netflix first announced that it would be venturing into the world of gaming, some people thought that it was a joke, and others thought that it would never work. How can they compete with the world’s most established video gaming companies, such as SONY, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, Nintendo, and Tencent, to name just a few? The simple answer is money.
The question being asked here is, can Netflix seriously carve out a space in the gaming industry with continued investment, or will this be one step too far and their ultimate downfall?
When did Netflix first venture into gaming?
Back in July 2021, Netflix first announced that it had hired Mike Verdu to take charge of the reins in Netflix’s push to enter the video gaming world. Verdu was a video game executive at Facebook and had experience working with big-named video game companies, such as Atari, Kabam, and even Electronic Arts. The initial focus was to produce more promotive mobile-ready games based, some of which were to be based on hit Netflix shows and movies. Netflix users could then access those titles from a smartphone when logged into their account.
What is Netflix Games
The official name for Netflix’s gaming product is Netflix Games, and the first few titles to arrive were rather basic. Many people had very little interest in playing them. However, the streaming giant continued to roll out new content, and much bigger titles were gradually released, and there was now more interest in them. Today, even some of the most popular games on the web could start to see tough competition from the likes of these popular Netflix titles:
- Stranger Things: 1984
- Stranger Things 3: The Game
- Into the Dead 2: Unleashed
- Twelve Minutes
- Into the Breach
- Moonlighter
- Immortality
Other great games available on Netflix
Some of the other titles that are also now available to play on Netflix Games in 2022 are Wonderputt Forever, Shooting Hoops, Exploding Kittens: The Game, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals, Asphalt Xtreme, Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story, and Townsmen – A Kingdom Rebuilt, to name just a few. These games are nowhere near as good as the games you can get on most other common gaming devices, such as Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Playstation 4, Android devices, the Steam Deck, and other consoles and devices.
What are the best smartphones for playing Netflix games
Unlike the more graphically demanding games, such as Horizon: Zero Dawn, Halo Infinite, and God of War, which require a state-of-the-art smartphone to play them, you can use pretty much any modern smartphone or tablet device to play games at Netflix Games. However, players who are looking to play high-end games like the ones mentioned above, plus various other hit titles, such as RIDE 4, Resident Evil Village, Control, The Ascent, and Bright Memory: Infinite, are better off investing in one of the following devices:
- Nubia Red Magic 7
- Asus ROG Phone 6D
- Asus ROG Phone 5
- Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro
- Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
- Sony Xperia 1 IV
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Can Netflix seriously carve out a space in the gaming industry with continued investment?
If you throw enough money at anything these days, eventually, that project is bound to work out and be successful, but nothing is guaranteed. The same rule can be applied to Netflix Games. They clearly have the money to invest in gaming, but is it a worthwhile investment? Only time will tell. The gaming industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and Netflix clearly wants a piece of the pie.
However, the competition for Netflix is extremely stiff, and it could still be many years and billions of dollars before Netflix can seriously compete with the likes of SONY, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, and Nintendo. Perhaps Netflix should just stick to what it knows best and continue creating and streaming amazing television shows and movies, such as Stranger Things, Narcos, Narcos Mexico, House of Cards, The Crown, Making a Murderer, Ozark, and Top Boy, to name just a few.
