Netflix VP Confirms Cloud Gaming Ambitions

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And announces a fifth game studio

Netflix
(Image credit: Netflix)

A Netflix VP has confirmed that the firm has ambitions to offer a cloud gaming service to subscribers. At the TechCrunch Disrupt event on Tuesday, vice president of gaming, Mike Verdu, said that Netflix is "seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering." In related news, further signalling Netflix’s serious intent regarding the gaming industry, the firm opened its fifth games studio, led by former Blizzard Entertainment (Overwatch) executive producer, Chacko Sonny.

There has been talk about Netflix entering the gaming industry before, but its initial venture targeted the mobile games space. It must have gained confidence from the mobile gaming venture, as it sounds like it will follow a similar modus operandi into cloud gaming. “We'll approach this the same way as we did with mobile - start small, be humble, be thoughtful,” explained Verdu, at Disrupt. “The extension into the cloud is really about reaching the other devices where people experience Netflix.” Moreover, the service is hinted to move beyond casual gaming titles.

You may be wondering about the viability of another cloud gaming entrant, with Google Stadia so recently deceased.  Thankfully, the question of the struggles faced by Stadia, and Amazon Luna, were raised at the Disrupt event. Verdu’s response to the failings seen by rivals was that Stadia, for example, was “a technical success,” but that Google’s business model didn’t work out.

Netflix

Recently introduced mobile games (Image credit: Netflix)

Netflix has released 35 mobile games since the service went live, and it let investors know that there are 55 more in the pipeline. The streaming media giant says that 14 of the new titles have come from its four games studios. To bolster its gaming output, and perhaps range, it announced that a fifth studio would be opened in Southern California shortly. The unnamed new studio is to be led by Chacko Sonny, an executive producer who worked on the very popular Overwatch franchise. As for partners, Ubisoft recently announced that it was producing three mobile games for Netflix, based on popular IPs such as Assassin’s Creed and Valiant Hearts.

Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
Freelance News Writer

Mark Tyson is a Freelance News Writer at Tom's Hardware US. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • PlaneInTheSky
    If Netflix can make cloud gaming work like Netflix is right now...flat monthly fee...access to hundreds of streamed games...I will jump on it in a second.

    Keeping up with PC gaming hardware has become so outrageously expensive that millions of people would jump on this.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    PlaneInTheSky said:
    If Netflix can make cloud gaming work like Netflix is right now...flat monthly fee...access to hundreds of streamed games...I will jump on it in a second.

    Keeping up with PC gaming hardware has become so outrageously expensive that millions of people would jump on this.

    Have you played any of their current games? Probably not, since, according to Apptopia, less than 1% of Netflix users have ever tried one of their games - even though the app forces you to scroll past the games every single time you want to watch a show.
    Netflix's ambitions seem to start and stop with simple "phone game" skinner boxes. Which I guess makes sense, considering Netflix announced they're going to "crack down on password sharing" by make their service completely useless on phones - he typed sarcastically.
    But I wonder if their hit rate will be better than their original shows. People seem willing to sort through 99 badly written and cheaply made shows/movies to find the 1% that are watchable. I wonder if they will do the same with the games.

    I don't know. I'm done with Netflix so long as their current leadership keeps their jobs. They seem to think that they can compete with Disney/CBS/Comcast/Amazon by cutting corners and providing an inferior product that is consistently getting worse while raising prices. Also, they need to reset their algorithm or something, because it's starting to show some of those youtube problems of "Too much terrible content that I have explicitly told it I don't want" and "Can't figure out what language I speak". 2 good shows a year isn't even close to be worth paying $15+ a month, forever. It would be cheaper to just unsubscribe and buy every Netflix show popular enough to get a physical release.
    But, of course, Netflix is a streaming service. It costs them money if you actually watch their content. They, like all streaming services, just want you to sign up for an autopay subscription and forget that you're paying the bill.
    Reply
  • PlaneInTheSky
    Have you played any of their current games? Probably not, since, according to Apptopia, less than 1% of Netflix users have ever tried one of their games

    Well, they're just mobile games for Netflix on mobile. None of the games are available on PC or tailored for PC.

    Also, they need to reset their algorithm or something, because it's starting to show some of those youtube problems of "Too much terrible content that I have explicitly told it I don't want" and "Can't figure out what language I speak".

    Yeah, there should be an option to explicitly tell Netflix you never want to see a certain genre.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    PlaneInTheSky said:
    cloud gaming
    is why stadia failed.

    its why the logitech device will fail.

    razor's too.

    the most popular games do NOT play well with cloud gaming...latency is too much. fps, action, moba, etc all need instant reaction. adding latency makes them all feel BAD.

    this is why ppl hated Sony's cloud gaming of ps2(or was ps3?) titles.


    Cloud gaming sounds good but most games require timing and reaction and latency of cloud gaming ruins it.

    If u cant afford PC gaming...get a steam deck?


    Netflix already losing $ (thus firing ppl & increasing prices) and trying to expand into a questionably successful side gig is...not how it works usually.
    Reply
  • Netflix is a complete joke. All of their shows completely suck. Everything new is crap. And now they’re greedy and don’t want people to share. their user subscription rate has DECLINED drastically. Unless they can start producing better quality shows that people want to watch they might go out of business and all these stupid cloud gaming things will be nothing but ideas.

    I would love to of been at the meeting where they decided this. The conversation must’ve been hilarious. Something like this, well, our business is failing. We are losing all of our customers so let’s start another business that will fail.
    Reply
  • PsychoPsyops
    Netflix definitely won't be able to pull it off. We simply do not yet have the technology to handle latency, buffering and sudden disconnects.
    These companies need to just wait 10 years when we have zero latency internet, especially wifi.
    And yeah, netflix is a joke and I think their failure is very much deserved after hosting content for pedophiles.
    Reply
  • PsychoPsyops said:
    Netflix definitely won't be able to pull it off. We simply do not yet have the technology to handle latency, buffering and sudden disconnects.
    These companies need to just wait 10 years when we have zero latency internet, especially wifi.
    And yeah, netflix is a joke and I think their failure is very much deserved after hosting content for pedophiles.
    I had no idea about this, but that is horrible. Now they say their content is ‘mostly’ pedophilia free.

    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2020/09/11/responding-to-backlash-netflix-clarifies-its-content-is-mostly-pedophilia-free/
    😂 yeah, they deserve to go out of business
    Reply