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Netflix doubles down on 40 more games nobody asked for

Netflix expanding its library of unplayed digital dust collectors, with 40 more games set to launch by 2023.

Netflix games on ios

Netflix has been making headlines lately with its announcement of launching 40 more video games by the end of 2023. But here’s the thing, have you ever met someone who has actually played one of these games?

Yeah, me neither, and apparently, I’m not the only one.

A previous Apptopia report published in October reveals an unsurprising fact: only 1% of streaming service subscribers actually take advantage of the games offered.

Don’t get me wrong, Netflix is cool, I guess. My wife watches stuff on it – I sometimes join her. But I’m left scratching my head when it comes to their gaming offerings.

Who is playing these games? Where do you even find them?

Netflix stranger things mobile games

Netflix has 70 games in the works from external partners and 16 games in various stages of development from their growing roster of internal game studios.

That’s a lot of games, but where are the players? Sure, they’ve launched 55 games so far, but who knew? And who cared?

And not to discount the hard-working publishers out there, but most of these games are indies; the only big publisher they’ve worked with is Ubisoft. Even then, the games they’ve launched have hardly made a splash.

Their most popular game is a tie-in to a Netflix reality show called “Too Hot To Handle.” I’ll leave that as it is. 

Netflix’s VP of external games, Leanne Loombe, says their “north star is to become a world-class publisher who delivers must-play games to our millions of members worldwide.”

But are they really delivering?

Stranger things 1984 android game screenshot

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Netflix is spreading itself too thin. Instead, they should stick to what they’re good at, producing great TV shows and movies.

The gaming industry is different, and breaking into it is more challenging than they might think. Gamers are hard to please, and they already have too much content at their fingertips.

To reach gamers, they must innovate and develop new formats as they did with Black Swan’s Bandersnatch. That was incredible and promised so much potential.

If Netflix wants to be taken seriously in the gaming world, they need to do more stuff like that and step up its game, no pun intended.

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Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.

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