In a significant move to broaden its gaming offerings, Netflix has announced plans to test games on select TVs and computers, according to a recent blog post by the company’s Vice President of Games, Mike Verdu. This move marks a pivotal step towards making games playable on a wider range of devices.
The streaming giant is set to initiate a limited beta test, commencing with a small group of members in Canada and the United Kingdom. The testing will first be available on select TVs, starting on Monday, and will subsequently roll out to PCs and Macs through Netflix.com on supported browsers in the coming weeks.
Netflix had initially ventured into the gaming realm by introducing games on mobile devices in November 2021. However, the gaming titles were previously only accessible on Apple’s iOS and Alphabet’s Android platforms.
The initial testing phase will feature two games: “Oxenfree,” developed by Night School Studio, and “Molehew’s Mining Adventure,” an engaging gem-mining arcade game. These titles will be available for play using a smartphone as a controller when connected to a TV. For users on PCs and Macs, gameplay will be facilitated through Netflix.com using a keyboard and mouse.
Mike Verdu expressed the company’s intent, stating, “By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world.” The expansion into TV gaming will be supported by a selection of devices from partners such as Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, and Roku devices, among others.
Netflix has also been actively fostering its gaming content lineup. Earlier in the year, the company had revealed plans to release a slate of 40 additional games in the near future, with an impressive 70 more games in development through partnerships. These figures are in addition to the 16 games currently in progress within the company’s in-house game studios.
As Netflix continues to innovate and expand its offerings, the gaming industry anticipates the impact of this move on the broader gaming landscape and the evolving preferences of its subscribers worldwide.
