The gaming industry most likely seems as the best place for your next investment, going by what the big names in the technology space are currently banking on. Amazon recently joined the gaming scene with Project Tempo, a cloud gaming platform similar to Google’s Stadia, who also have the “Games Future” project we recently highlighted.
Netflix on the other hand, not to be left behind, is pushing with its own gaming plans by allowing subscribers in Poland to play two Stranger Things games on Android.
The company is ramping up its investment in gaming, seeing the potential for a broader entertainment universe that ties in to its most popular shows.
“Starting today, members in Poland can try Netflix mobile gaming on Android with two games — Stranger Things 1984 and Stranger Things 3 — all as part of their membership,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “It’s still very, very early days, and we will be working hard to deliver the best possible experience in the months ahead with our no ads, no in-app purchases approach to gaming.”
Luring gamers to the Netflix platform
The two games in question have previously been available on the Google Play Store, Apple App Store and for Stranger Things 3, it has also been available on other platforms including PC and consoles.
Despite the games being offered to users from within the Netflix mobile app, subscribers will still be directed to the Google Play Store to install the game on their devices.
After confirming your Netflix credentials, you will then have access to the game.
Once downloaded, you will then be able to launch the game from either inside the Netflix app or directly from your device.
Having launched the test in Poland, Netflix emphasizes that users will now need to have a membership to download the titles, as they will only be available to Netflix subscribers. They importantly point out that existing users who already downloaded the game from Google Play in the past will not be impacted.
The existing users will be able to play the game as usual or even re-download it from their account library if they used to have it installed.
New players however have no choice but to get the game from the Netflix app.
Poland seems like a random country for Netflix to choose to carry out the trial on, but the company points out that Poland has an active mobile gaming audience, which makes it a more suitable suit.
When the service will be rolled out to the other countries is still a mystery as Netflix did not provide further information apart from saying that that will happen in “the coming months”.
New competition for Netflix
Netflix has recently been fighting stiff competition in the streaming market, with other options cropping up, including more recently, Disney+.
The COVID-19 pandemic meant more and more movies are skipping the cinema release and going straight to rental, which makes the other streaming platforms, especially Disney+ which has the rights to the biggest IPs like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, much more appealing compared to the original movies found on Netflix.
Whether offering games as part of the subscription will help swing users back to the platform will be interesting to see, but it is a start. However, the existence of multiple streaming platforms only makes it expensive for the consumer, who has to pay for at least 5 major services (Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO, Apple TV Plus among others) in order to have access to almost everything that interests the whole family.
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