Netflix takes on cloud gaming

The movie and series streaming service now wants to explore the cloud gaming market.

Mike Verdu, Head of Video Games at Netflix, recently stated that US giant SVOD is looking into offering cloud gaming in the next few years:

This is a significant added value. We are not trying to force you to buy a subscription instead of a console. It’s a completely different business model. We hope that over time it will become a very natural way to play games wherever you are.

Netflix expands to cloud gaming and opens new studio in Southern California #Disrupt2022 https://t.co/RgCaAK9B0Q by @asilbwrites

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) October 18, 2022

If Netflix plans to launch cloud gaming, the goal will be to do something different from Google with Stadia, which will be permanently shut down in a few months:

Google Stadia was a technical success. It was fun to play games on Google Stadia. But the business model no doubt had some problems.

Cloud gaming controller with Netflix?

While Google Stadia and Amazon Luna have dedicated controllers, Mike Verdu is reluctant to say yet that we should expect a Netflix controller for cloud gaming. In addition, there have been rumors of a hypothetical alliance with Sony Interactive Entertainment to promote DualSense as well as some PlayStation Studios titles such as Ghost of Tsushima.

Netflix opens new studio

After opening a store in Helsinki, Finland last month, Netflix is ​​also opening a store in Southern California with Chacko Sonny, a former producer under license from publisher Activision Blizzard Overwatch:

He could have done anything, but he chose to come here. You don’t bring people like him into your organization to build the next gaming revolution unless you feel like we’re really here for the long haul and for the right reasons.

Since entering the video game market, Netflix has developed 14 games in its own studios and currently offers 35 games on its service. In total, according to Mike Verdu, the company is currently developing 55 games. These games include experiences based on original intellectual property such as Stranger Things as well as licensed intellectual property such as Spongebob Squarepants. Netflix also develops original games.