Netflix confirms its entry into video games: they will be included with the subscription without increasing their price

The streaming giant will focus on mobile gaming, at least initially.

Netflix plans to enter the world of video games , including these proposals within its platform as part of its subscription. If you have felt a déjà vu when reading these words, it is because several reports in recent months had made known the plans of the streaming giant to follow in the wake of Apple Arcade with an offer of subscription games, for which they began to sign industry veterans . Now, Netflix has made its intentions official in a joint letter to investors to present its quarterly results.

Games will be included at no additional costNetflixIn it, the “Big N” of streaming confirms that the games to be published will be integrated into its platform as yet another category of content, all without increasing the price of subscriptions. Likewise, they are going to focus on mobile games, at least for now: “We are in the early stages of a major expansion in video games, building on our previous efforts around interactivity (eg Black Mirror Bandersnatch) and our Stranger Things games, “Netflix tells its investors.

“We see games as yet another new category of content for us, similar to our expansions into original films, animation and unscripted television,” the company continues. “Games will be included in users’ Netflix subscriptions at no additional cost, just like movies and series. Initially, we will focus primarily on mobile games .” This move, as noted by Polygon, comes after Netflix missed its growth target in the first quarter of the year, and has lost 400,000 users in North America in the second quarter, its first decline in the region in two years.

Netflix: the moment “is right”

We believe that this moment is the right oneNetflixNegative data for the company, where Netflix points to a “loose catalog” of new releases as the main culprit. And while this expansion to video games is a movement that has surely been underway for years, the situation seems to have accelerated the company’s efforts . “We are as excited as ever for our film and series offering, and we look forward to increased investment and growth in the long term across all of our existing content categories, but given that we have spent nearly a decade creating original content efforts , we believe this is the right time to discover how they value our members videogames. “

The Bloomberg report released last week stated that Netflix would want to release its first games in 2022 . Now that the platform has confirmed the rest of its plans, we will see if Netflix announces its first games before the end of the year. Beyond interactive experiences, Netflix produces more and more movies and series related to video games, and only in the last week a PUBG series has been announced , and we have known the trailer and the date of a new animated Monster movie Hunter .