Netflix is entering the cloud gaming market, a technique that makes it possible to play a video game on any medium thanks to an online subscription. Netflix’s interest in video games is not new but has remained embryonic until now. The streaming platform thus joined forces a few years ago with Ubisoft, a video game distribution company, to create mobile games. But his ambition is now accelerating.
Using cloud gaming technology, which stores all games in a cloud (for “cloud”, which is a remote storage solution), Netflix aims to offer its users the possibility of playing on any type screen. On desktop, they will be able to use the Netflix site using keyboard and mouse; on television, Netflix has already thought of a controller “that we already have in hand most of the time: our telephone”, explains Mike Verdu, vice-president of the games division of the American firm.
For this purpose, the company has developed an application available on the App Store, named “Netflix Game Controller”. It turns a smartphone into a classic controller, with a joystick and four buttons (A, B, X, Y). The proposition is attractive: no need to buy specific hardware, all Netflix users could play easily.
But we will have to wait a little longer before taking advantage of this offer. It is, for the moment, a beta version restricted to a handful of users in Canada and the United Kingdom. Their mission: “To test our game streaming technology […] and improve the member experience over time,” promises Mike Verdu.
So far, only two games are offered: Oxenfree, a supernatural adventure game developed and published by a Netflix-owned studio, and Molehew’s, described as “a gem-mining arcade game.” The number of compatible televisions is still limited but “other devices will be added over time”, explains Mike Verdu.
Netflix, he says, is “only at the very beginning of [its] gaming journey.” The message is clear: the firm has the will to become a leading player in this constantly evolving sector, which can pay very big dividends.
According to the Statista Institute, in 2022, global video game market revenues were estimated at nearly $347 billion, and cloud gaming is one of the major trends of the moment with a market that could reach $8.17 billion. dollars in 2025, i.e. three times more than in 2022, according to the firm Newzoo. The streaming genius, with more than 230 million subscribers worldwide, could well establish itself in the sector thanks to these millions of potential players and the ease with which they would have access to video games.
