Even as Netflix is raising prices on consumers, the company has also announced that it will be introducing couch co-op and party games for subscribers. The company has offered cloud gaming as a “beta” to a subset of its subscribers since 2023, and the move into co-op games suggests that the streamer will continue to invest in this area.
Co-CEO Greg Peters made the announcement as part of the company’s Q4 earnings report, but he didn’t detail what games might be available through this new platform. “We think of this as a successor to family board game night or an evolution of what the game show on TV used to be,” he explained.
He also added that Netflix would continue to develop narrative games based on Netflix intellectual property. Peters explained that those games were “consistent fan favorites and we’ve got a lot in the library to work with there.”
Netflix’s expansion into the world of online games speaks to their overall belief that they are really competing with everything from TikTok to a book for the attention of their users. Games are just another way the company can get the attention of users, although it remains to be seen whether the company can really compete with many of the world’s biggest gaming companies.
Perhaps smartly, then, Netflix seems to be targeting the idea of family game night more than trying to replicate Elden Ring. As their gaming division continues to evolve, it remains to be seen whether users will flock to Netflix, a streaming service, to play games, or whether that leap will prove too great to cross.
