In an exciting development, Netflix is expanding its gaming experience beyond mobile devices. After two years of offering games on smartphones and tablets, the streaming giant is now delving into computer and internet-connected TV gaming.
The company has officially announced the commencement of a limited beta test for a select group of members residing in Canada and the U.K. The test will kick off on designated TVs from Monday, August 14th, and subsequently on PCs and Macs through the netflix.com platform, utilizing supported web browsers within the upcoming weeks. Netflix’s Vice President of Games, Mike Verdu, outlined the mechanics in a blog post, highlighting that for TV gaming, customers can employ their mobile phones as controllers, taking advantage of a device they already utilize extensively. Meanwhile, for PC and Mac users, gameplay can be facilitated through web browsers using a keyboard and mouse.
Netflix’s initial cloud-gaming trial will include two games: “Oxenfree” from Night School Studio, an independent game developer acquired by Netflix in September 2021, and “Mining Adventure” from Molehew, a captivating gem-mining arcade game.
In the previous fall, Verdu expressed the company’s strong interest in cloud gaming, aimed at broadening its game collection’s accessibility to TVs and computers.
Verdu underscored the purpose of the “limited beta” in his recent blog post, explaining that it scrutinizes their game streaming technology and controllers while continually refining the member experience.
The games for TVs will be compatible with select devices from initial partners such as Amazon Fire TV streaming media players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart Onn TV. Verdu mentioned the intention to incorporate more devices into the compatibility list progressively.
Verdu conveyed, “By expanding game availability to a wider range of devices, we aspire to facilitate seamless gaming for our global member base.” While acknowledging that their venture into gaming is still in its infancy, he conveyed the team’s enthusiasm for bringing enjoyment to members through games. He also expressed eagerness to receive insights from beta testers and share further developments as they chart this path.
Presently, Netflix boasts a portfolio of 70 games in its mobile game lineup. The company is working towards increasing this to approximately 95 games by the conclusion of 2023. Recent additions encompass titles like “Cut the Rope Daily” from ZeptoLab, “The Queen’s Gambit Chess” from Ripstone, and “Too Hot to Handle 2” from Nanobit. The latter two games are inspired by original Netflix TV shows, weaving the streaming and gaming experiences together.
