How the hell did I not know about this? Netflix has unveiled today that it was expanding its game streaming service to TVs, computers, and mobile devices on top of Android and IOS phones…which is a huge shock for me as I didn’t even know they had streaming for games.
I literally must have been living under a rock.
In its bid to enter the very lucrative gaming market, Netflix announced that it was expanding its streaming services from just Android and IOS phones to TVs, computers, and mobile devices through its special streaming app. And, to be honest, I didn’t even know Netflix was making games.
Now, I don’t want to make this entire article just about me being baffled by how Netflix makes streaming services, but I really am stunned that they do. Seriously, I had no idea you could even put Netflix and gaming in the same sentence, let alone being associated with one another, and have that sentence be coherent before I heard this news today.
I really must have been living under a rock these last two years as they actually have been producing game streaming content since 2021…though, it was with quite old and little-know titles.
Nevertheless, back to the news today, I’m actually happy that Netflix has gotten into the game streaming race as even though I’m almost 100% certain they’re services won’t catch on, it’s good to see other companies and publishers enter the fray and prevent the traditional powerhouses like Microsoft and Sony from dominating and monopolizing the field.
With Microsoft now in complete control of Activision Blizzard and in an agreement with NVIDIA over cloud streaming, while Sony and the other major publisher continue to buy up the smaller developers and studios to create more exclusive games, the need for more independent, 3rd party platforms has never been greater.
And, even though Netflix’s streaming app looks cheaper than a broken crayon (and about as functional as one too), at least there is another platform for independent and smaller developers to outsource their games and allow for gamers to have a choice between using different platforms, rather than being forced to use an Xbox or PlayStation-sanctioned service.
Also, one of the more interesting things about this development is not only that Netflix can offer another option in the game streaming race, but it also has been interested in developing games for its major television and movie productions.
I’ve seen rumors and reports that Netflix, through Netflix Game Studios, Night School Studio, Boss Fight Entertainment, and Next Games, wants to make games centered around great shows and movies like Squid Games, Wednesday, Extraction, Love is Blind, etc., while Rockstar might also be putting Grand Theft Auto VI on the platform.
Obviously, Netflix really isn’t developed as a major gaming powerhouse (or even a competent one), and any game they produce has a high likelihood of being utter crap as a good chunk of their shows are, but at least they are actually making new, independent content. And, at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters as the gaming world becomes ever more standardized and corporate.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Wikimedia Creative Commons License/Author: Ghaith Baazaoui) (Ghaith Baazaoui, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
