Netflix Aims to Double Game Offerings by Year’s End

With fewer than 1% of its users interacting with its gaming offering, Netflix is stepping up its efforts in that sphere, with ambitions to have 50 games available by year’s end.

That’s according to a Tuesday (Aug. 9) Financial Times (FT) report, which argued that the move into gaming feels “natural” for the streaming company, as its subscription model could have a major impact on mobile games.

Netflix has 26 titles available for iOS and Android, which FT dismissed as primarily “casual games of little interest.”

See also: Netflix Launching New Mobile Games This Month

However, the report stated some of the newer games have more complexity, such as Poinpy, which FT called “charming, tense and surprisingly deep.”

Meanwhile, Netflix has also added popular indie PC games to mobile and launched licensed games based on its series. There are two “Stranger Things” games, as well as upcoming games based on the series “Shadow and Bone,” “Money Heist,” and “The Queen’s Gambit.”

In March, Netflix added game developer Boss Fight Entertainment to its in-house creative team in an effort to expand its games catalog.

Read more: Netflix Adds Game Developer Boss Fight Entertainment

“This studio’s extensive experience building hit games across genres will help accelerate our ability to provide Netflix members with great games wherever they want to play them,” Netflix Vice President of Game Studios Amir Rahimi wrote in a blog post at the time.

This is all happening as Netflix is weathering a rocky period, losing more than 1 million subscribers this year, cutting hundreds of positions and seeing its share price fall.

See more: Netflix Bets Tweaks Will Reverse Post-Pandemic Decline

Research by PYMNTS showed that streaming entertainment still remains a part of everyday life. There is a strong tie between streaming TV and other connected activities. For example, 72% of consumers who use video and music streaming services also use messaging apps to communicate with their friends and family.