Editor's accept: Netflix has been busy building its catalog of original works in an endeavor to become less dependent on licensing content from tertiary parties, who are slowly locking the best of it abroad and into their own streaming services. The company is said to exist exploring an expansion into video games, which is unsafe territory that others like Google, Amazon, and Disney have failed to navigate. If information technology really wants a piece of the $170 billion (and growing) global gaming market, at that place is little room for mistake as Netflix has only recently ended its run of debt.

The streaming wars are raging on, despite an oversaturated marketplace where even the explosive growth of up and coming services like Disney+ is slowly coming to an stop. Others similar Netflix, who now has over 200 1000000 subscribers, are exploring dissimilar ways to expand their services beyond video on need.

According to a report from The Information, Netflix is hunting for a new hire that will preside over a new endeavor to get into the video games arena. Over the last few weeks, the company has been in talks with several game industry executives, but details are scarce about its progress on the matter. There'due south as well no official job listing as of writing.

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Netflix supposedly wants to emulate Apple tree'southward strategy with Apple Arcade by offer a packet of games with no advertizement or microtransactions. At this bespeak, it'southward not clear if Netflix will offering third-political party titles, but manufacture watchers speculate the company will focus on publishing games based on original Netflix intellectual belongings, such as popular series on its streaming platform.

This wouldn't be the first time the company has dipped its toes into video games. Over the terminal few years, Netflix has worked with game developers to create a game based gear up in the Stranger Things universe, as well as populate its streaming service with interactive shows such as Minecraft: Story Mode and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, to name a few.

The interactive format has been a gold mine of user data for the company, but at the same time information technology's been perceived as a gimmick that'southward been expensive to produce.

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The timing is definitely interesting, every bit the growing gaming manufacture saw an additional big boost over the past twelvemonth as more people were stuck at dwelling during lockdowns. So much so that more Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are paying for video games at present than ever before.

Information technology's worth noting that three years ago, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said the visitor considered Epic's Fortnite to exist more of a competitor than say, HBO. Last calendar month, during an investor telephone call on Q1 2022 earnings, Hastings explained the company is already invested in gaming with the interactive movie format, and that "there'south no doubt that games are going to be an of import course of amusement and important modality to deepen that fan experience so we're going to keep going."