It would seem that the commercial failures of Google Stadia and Amazon Luna do not scare Netflix . The company, which entered the video game sector slowly, is now asserting even more its ambition to take its place in the market.
A cloud gaming service for Netflix
It was at TechCrunch Disrupt , an event for entrepreneurs, start-ups and investors, that Netflix Gaming VP Mike Verdu made the revelations.
He explained that the company sees this technology as "added value" for subscribers . "We're not asking you to subscribe to replace a console. It's a completely different business model. The hope is that over time it becomes this very natural way to play games wherever you are."
He also commented on the situation with Google Stadia, whose recent failure is still fresh in memory: "Stadia was technically successful. It was fun to play games on Stadia [...]. There were some issues with the business model , that's for sure."
If Stadia users were to buy the games individually, Netflix would likely adopt the "all-inclusive" subscription model instead, as it is now.
And yet another new studio
Mike Verdu has confirmed that Netflix will be opening a new in-house game development studio in California. Led by former Overwatch executive producer Chacko Sonny , it will be Netflix's fifth studio , following the creation of a new internal team in Helsinki and the acquisitions of Night School Studio , Boss Fight Entertainment and Next Games.
Chacko Sonny had left Blizzard last year following an SEC (Security Exchange Commission) investigation into sexual harassment and discrimination within the company.
Verdu also said that 55 games are "under development" at the moment: games based on original IPs, like " Stranger Things ", as well as others based on licensed IPs like " Bob sponge ", but also original games.
The beginning of the Worlds of League of Legends had set the trend and unfortunately, the latter has not been reversed for the moment... Audiences are down compared to the previous edition. And when we look at the figures, we can speak of a small disaster.
