Netflix seems to be really serious about their gaming ambitions which seem to be a logical fit with their movies and TV shows. Earlier this year they announced they were testing out the integration of mobile games to its subscription service in select territories. Now they’re expanding it to two other countries, specifically Spain and Italy. They have also acquired game development studio Night School Studio which will most likely fit in with their plans to “build out the creative capabilities and library of Netflix games together.”
Netflix announced its acquisition of the relatively unknown gaming studio. They’ve started making a name for themselves with their debut video game, Oxenfree. Netflix says that the games the studio will be developing for the streaming service will be free to subscribers and there will be no ads or in-app purchases as well. There are no specific details released about the acquisition but one thing that the studio assures gamers is that they will continue working on Oxenfree.
Night School Studio focuses on narrative-driven games so the rumors that Netflix will eventually release games based on its original programming may be the reason behind this purchase. Currently, Netflix is testing out some games like “Stranger Things: 1984” and “Stranger Things 3” within the mobile app in Poland. They have not announced yet what other original shows they will be adding to the gaming world but there are a lot to choose from.
Meanwhile, they are expanding the mobile gaming pilot to Spain and Italy. They’re also adding three new games – Card Blast, Teeter Up, and Shooting Hoops. This means that not all games that they will be bringing to the platform will be based on their shows. Having a robust library of games is one of the success factors of gaming platforms so most likely the plan is to have both games based on shows and other ones that may not be so narrative driven.
Netflix says that they’re still in the “very, very early days” of this pilot program when they initially launched last August. So it may take a while for this to even reach the U.S and other countries. We’re keeping an eye on future developments as this may be a, well, game-changer for on-demand streaming services.
