Netflix has recently confirmed that it is going to “ramp up” its investment in gaming following positive trends in the industry. As many gamers are already aware, Netflix’s gaming department has been sitting in the dark for some time, only sparsely having light shed onto it in recent years. This seems to be changing soon as the streaming giant has invested in AI Technology to build games and has nearly 80 games currently in development as of last year. Netflix also announced that WWE 2K will be a part of Netflix Games come Fall 2025.
During their most recent earnings call, Netflix Co-CEO, President and Director Gregory K. Peters was asked about the monetization opportunities within the gaming space. Peters explained that the company is looking at near-term monetization opportunities in gaming, and he added that they are adding “more value to their offerings” in an attempt to help increase user acquisition, retention and willingness to pay for their subscription models, adding that it drives “all the sorts of core fundamentals” of their business.
Peters has also spoken about how Netflix will be “ramping up” the investment in the gaming side of the well-known company, as this element of the company is “quite small” in comparison to their “overall content investment”. At the same time, however, the company wants to “remain disciplined” to not over invest as they want to properly translate this move into value for their existing members and draw in a new audience as well.
The Netflix co-CEO highlighted the strides the company has made with its gaming section, reporting “good progress” with licensed games, which include big names like GTA, plus games they’ve developed based around their popular catalogue, such as Squid Game: Unleashed. Therefore, in the future, players can expect to see titles which file under both categories coming to Netflix, and gamers could be seeing a new era of Netflix pushing this side of the platform.
What do you guys think? Do you think Netflix Gaming will breathe new life into the gaming industry? Or do you simply think they will fall by the wayside?
