Yes, Netflix has great games, but no one plays them. According to a new report, less than 1 percent of people who subscribe to the streaming service use its free games. Those stats are definitely not helped by the process you have to go through to play, which while not completely Byzantine, is more complicated than it needs to be.
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Netflix signaled its games early last year when it launched a talent hunt for game industry CEOs. By November, the streamer had added five games to its mobile app, though the initial offerings were disappointing to say the least. (Who really needs more dialed-in games based on Stranger Things?)
The library, which is free to play for subscribers, now includes some real gems like the tactical game Into the Breach, the physics platformer Poinpy, the casual Moonlighter, and the narrative gut-wrenching Before Your Eyes. .
How do you play games on Netflix?
Currently, you can’t play Netflix games on a smart TV, or ironically, in the Netflix app on a game console. You need either an Android device (updated to at least Android 8. To see also : Netflix makes bad shows because we watch something.0 software) or an Apple mobile device (running iOS 15 or later). From there, proceed as follows.
Sure, it would be nice to just … play these games on the Netflix app — you know, the same way you watch movies or TV shows on the service. Still, the process isn’t terrible. This morning I tried out Into the Breach, which recently got an expansion so big it might as well be a sequel, and found it to be just as much fun on mobile as anywhere else. I also messed with Poinpy and had to tear myself apart after the tutorial or it would have legitimately derailed my day. Man, what an instantly engaging little game…
However, there are a few quirks: I couldn’t get the audio working in either game unless I plugged in headphones. (The world’s subway riders should be happy to know that Netflix’s wave of free games won’t contribute to the cacophonous noise pollution that already plagues America’s transit systems.) And the service isn’t yet big enough to compete with some of the biggest mobiles. – game subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass or Apple Arcade. But if the path is a handful of easily accessible games, I’m impressed.
What games does Netflix have?
Netflix currently supports the following games, but notes that not all games are available on all devices: See the article : Assassin’s Creed Infinity is said to include a game with an Asian setting.
Netflix plans to increase that number to 50 before next April, according to a report by The Washington Post. This number will eventually include games developed in-house. Last year it acquired Night School, the studio behind the popular adventure game Oxenfree. (Night School premiered the sequel, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, at this year’s Tribeca Festival.)
It’s unclear if there are plans to make the games natively available in the main Netflix app or make the game library a separate app. When reached for comment, a Netflix spokesperson referred Kotaku to a company blog post from last November.
“We launched games on our service less than a year ago,” the spokesperson said. “It’s still early days, and we realize we still have a lot of work to do to deliver a great Netflix mobile gaming experience.”
