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Since last year, Netflix has been offering its subscribers access to free video games. Now, data shows that less than one percent of its users are playing any of these games. And while the streaming giant has announced that more games are coming to its service, very few of its 200 million subscribers likely will.
In November, Netflix began offering games as part of its subscription service, launching with five initial titles: Stranger Things: The Game, Stranger Things 3: The Game, Card Blast, Teeter Up, and Shooting Hoops. It has since added more and now has over 25 mobile games that people can download through the Netflix app on their Android or iOS devices. Some of these games, like Into The Breach, are really good. And all of these games have no ads or microtransactions.
According to CNBC, using data from app analytics firm Apptopia, Netflix games have been downloaded just over 23 million times and have an average daily audience of 1.7 million. That might sound good on paper, but it’s essentially nothing compared to Netflix’s 221 million subscribers. What this data shows is that about 200 million people who have access to Netflix’s library aren’t playing or maybe don’t even know they exist.
However, with a strong list of games that continues to grow, Netflix is struggling to get anyone to care. Data from Apptopia shows that all these games have a daily audience of 1.7 million. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of crappy mobile games that are double that.
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Last year, Netflix CEO Greg Peters told investors that he plans to be “experimental” and “try a bunch of things,” while explaining that the company is focused on the “long-term reward” of creating popular games that are “connected.” To watch Netflix shows and movies.
And while Netflix says it will double its current game library by the end of the year, while only one percent of its subscribers play these games, it’s hard not to wonder if streamers are too expensive to get into gaming before they decide it’s not worth it. ?
Remember, Netflix faces a user retention problem. Since the beginning of the year, the streamer has lost 1.2 million subscribers. In response to the trending downward numbers, Netflix has cut jobs, expenses and shows. Building and supporting a library of games that can compete with Game Pass or Apple Arcade isn’t cheap.
For example, earlier this year, Netflix paid more than $70 million to buy the studio behind the puzzle game Stranger Things. That’s nothing and at a time when the company is looking to cut costs and compete against other steamers, it’s questionable how long it will continue to fund this gaming experiment.
