Netflix tests games on TVs and PCs

After launching dozens of games for smartphones and tablets, Netflix is starting to extend that strategy to TVs and computer screens.

Mike Verdu, Netflix's VP of games, announced this week that the streaming giant has booted up a gaming beta trial with a "small number of members in Canada and the UK" that will run on a select mix of smart TVs, TV-connected devices and via Netflix.com on supported browsers for PCs and Macs.

The initial test will focus on two gaming titles: "Oxenfree" from Netflix's Night School Studio, and "Molehew's Mining Adventure," a gem-mining arcade game.

For games played on the TV, Netflix will rely on a smartphone-based controller. Beta users playing games on web browsers will interact with games using a keyboard and a mouse.

For the limited beta test in the UK and Canada, the TV-based games will run via Netflix on devices such as Amazon Fire TV players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG smart TVs, Nvidia Shield TV devices, Roku players and TVs, Samsung smart TVs and Walmart's ONN-branded TVs. Netflix expects to extend support to other platforms.

"This limited beta is meant to test our game streaming technology and controller, and to improve the member experience over time," Verdu explained in this blog post. "By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world."

The small TV and browser-based beta trial arrives nearly two years after Netflix launched casual games on mobile devices, starting with Android-based phones and tablets. Access to those games are built into Netflix subscriptions and, at this point, remain free of advertising and in-app purchases, such as feature upgrades.

The move also comes a few months after Verdu hinted at the TechCrunch Disrupt event that Netflix might expand into cloud gaming – a sector Google bailed on when it shut down its Stadia service.

Games a value-add for Netflix... for now

Netflix's gaming strategy currently is a value-add aimed at driving more engagement on its mobile platforms – something that the company evidently intends to replicate on its TV- and web-based platforms.

It's not yet clear how Netflix's focus on games, which has built up a portfolio of about 50 titles for smartphones and tablets, is helping to reduce churn or increase time on the platform.

But, with this new trial, it's evident that Netflix plans to stick to its gaming strategy. "In 2023, we'll continue to expand our offerings with more games, with a focus on Netflix-related IP," the company noted in its Q4 2022 letter to shareholders posted in January 2023.

Netflix ended Q2 2023 with 238.39 million streaming subs worldwide. It added 5.89 million streaming subs in the period, fueled in part by its expanded crackdown on password-sharing.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading