Netflix Games has become one of the most interesting gaming platforms within the last five years. With many gaming companies focusing on developing games for either the mobile gaming market or the more high-end console and PC market, Netflix has stood out as a unique oddity. Netflix has developed and published a number of games as part of its own subscription service, with some titles available on the cloud and others on mobile devices. However, in this article, I want to dispel the fear that Netflix is moving away from cloud gaming.
Netflix’s Cloud Beta Is Growing
Let’s get the first point out of the way, yes Netflix Cloud Gaming is still in the Beta Stage, however most cloud gaming services run a beta for at least a year to develop their service and find ways to lower input latency. Netflix earlier this year expanded its cloud gaming beta from three countries up to eight countries. The countries which started with the beta were Canada and the UK, but that has now grown to include the US, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy. This lineup of countries with the beta test might not seem impressive, but it does include the five most important European countries (especially since Germany, the UK, and France are the wealthiest European nations). These are also established markets where Netflix has many contacts to help produce content.
Netflix Mobile Gaming Can Help Build Netflix Cloud Gaming:
The next thing we need to address is how Netflix’s mobile gaming can help build up Netflix Cloud Gaming. With Netflix spending billions on making licensing deals alongside developing their games internally, this can lead to Netflix building up some significant industry connections. Netflix has also been on an acquisition spree in recent years. It ended with Netflix buying talented game developers, including Night School Studio and Next Games, both of which have provided games for Netflix Cloud Gaming alongside Netflix’s mobile games. One of the most notable Netflix games on both platforms is Oxenfree, which is developed by an internal Netflix studio.
Building Out A Game Platform Takes Time
Now let’s go over the final and most critical point. Building out a gaming platform, especially a cloud gaming platform, takes time and money. If we look at the history of cloud gaming, we can note notable cloud platforms like Google Stadia and Xbox Cloud Gaming were in closed beta for years before being fully rolled out. Netflix has a strong cloud platform thanks to its business of streaming TV and films, but developing games for a cloud platform is harder than simply uploading a video file.
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