American video streamer Netflix has landed the first big deal for its gaming ambitions: the company announced on Saturday night that French game giant Ubisoft will make three exclusive games for it. Netflix must become a game service for everyone, says CEO Leanne Loombe.
It is a successor to the critically acclaimed World War I game Valiant Heartsthe playful role play Mighty Questand a new part of the blockbuster series Assassin’s Creed. The games will be available exclusively on mobile devices via the Netflix app.
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Image Netflix
Netflix (220 million subscribers) has had little success with it since the launch of its new service at the end of last year, according to Apptopia. This app analyst noted early August that only 1.7 percent of all Netflix subscribers have tried this service. But the hard numbers are not yet important to Netflix for the time being, Loombe says during a virtual roundtable discussion with two journalists. She is responsible for games from Netflix’s third-party partners. The company also makes internal games. “We are now experimenting. It’s too early to say what will and won’t work.”
The biggest hits among the 28 games that the Netflix service now has are the Stranger Thingsgames, cat puzzle game Mittens and zombie game Into the Dead, said Loombe. Before the end of the year, the offer should have almost doubled, to about fifty games. It’s going to be an eclectic collection, with highly regarded titles like puzzle game Into the Breach and special platform games that you can play in between, such as Lucky Luna.
Also read: Netflix takes a very different approach with its games ambition: modest (2021)
If they do take stock, what will Netflix be watching? “That we can offer such a diverse range that each of our subscribers has a game to play,” says Loombe. “It also includes that we want to work with as many different game makers from as many countries as possible.” Also from the Netherlands: Paladin Studios in The Hague is currently working on a game based on the popular Netflix series Nailed It!.
Only for smartphones
For now, Netflix only adds smartphone games. “Players behave differently on PC and on game consoles,” says Loombe. So that would require more research. “We are now concentrating on mobile devices, because I believe that’s where we serve our subscribers the best: everyone has a smartphone. You can more easily fit those games into your daily life, for example during lunch.”
Netflix can also easily score with smartphone gamers. They often go crazy with the ads and other practices in mobile games, such as having to pay to be able to perform another action. “Our games are completely free with a Netflix subscription,” says Loombe. “We think that’s better for our partner studios too – they can focus on the creative work, not how they’re going to monetize it.”
With Ubisoft, Netflix has a major partner from the game world in its catalog for the first time. The Assassin’s Creed games are loved worldwide – the latest game, valhalla, was good for more than 1 billion dollars (980 million euros) in turnover. Netflix already gave the green light to its own Assassin’s Creed series, so now a smartphone game is added to that. “It’s still early days, we’re still working with Ubisoft to figure out exactly how and if this game and the series are connected.”
Microsoft
The choice for Ubisoft seems logical: in recent years the French company has been eager for partnerships beyond the boundaries of the traditional game world. Ubisoft previously closed a deal with Microsoft, which is very successful with its own Netflix-like service Game Pass.
The idea of Netflix is not crazy: such services are now in demand. But whether Netflix subscribers will find their way to the game tab in the app remains to be seen. Perhaps a big announcement like the Assassin’s Creed game will change that.