Continuing its foray into the world of gaming, Netflix is ​​testing the possibility of playing on TV using a smartphone as a controller. An original and clever idea, but which may not be enough to seduce the crowds…

Continuing its foray into the world of gaming, Netflix is ​​testing the possibility of playing on TV using a smartphone as a controller. An original and clever idea, but which may not be enough to seduce the crowds…

Netflix continues to diversify its activities in order to become much more than a streaming giant! After embarking on sports coaching by broadcasting Nike training programs, the American platform is returning to the video game sector with an astonishing idea. As a reminder, Netflix has been offering mobile games since November 2021 – on Android and iOS – at no additional cost or advertising. All subscribers to the streaming platform, regardless of the formula subscribed, can access this video game service without paying anything more. The catalog currently contains around fifty titles, including small recreational games, titles from franchises such as Stranger Things and real little nuggets that have proven themselves on PC and consoles, like Twelve Minutes And Oxenfree (see our article). But if the digital giant is not very successful at the moment – ​​less than 1% of subscribers played a Netflix game in 2022… – it does not seem to be discouraged. Changing strategy, the platform is internally testing the possibility of playing its video games on television using a smartphone as a controller. What can you hope to become a major player in cloud gaming?

Netflix games on TV: when the smartphone turns into a controller

To become a major player in video games, Netflix is ​​trying to make its games accessible on all types of devices, starting with televisions. Indeed, developer Steve Moser spotted hidden codes on the streaming service’s iOS app indicating “A game on your TV requires a controller to play. Do you want to use your smartphone as a controller?” or “Using a gamepad”. Present on all televisions and accessible with a simple phone used as a controller, this service would likely become a must in cloud gaming and appeal to families and occasional players. Moreover, Netflix had already made its cloud gaming ambitions known to The Verge. “As you can imagine, we want Netflix games to be playable on any device”said Leanne Loombe, vice president of external games at Netflix.

Thus, the user would have access to a catalog of games, which he could play on different devices, via a subscription. The device that serves as a support will not calculate anything, only serving to display the images of the game which are calculated remotely, by specialized servers, and sent in real time. And Netflix has great ambitions in this area since it has created studios dedicated to the development of its video games – with which it intends to explore its flagship universes – and has bought others such as Night School, Next Games and Boss Fight. Entertainment. It plans to add around forty titles to its catalog in 2023 and has already entered into a partnership with Ubisoft for the production of three exclusive games, including Valiant HeartsFollowing Unknown Soldiers: Memories of the Great War (already available), The Mighty Questand even a Assassin’s Creed !

An ambitious but risky bet when we remember the bitter failure of Google Stadia, having failed to impose itself on the market against cloud gaming behemoths, such as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and GeForce Now from Nvidia. The streaming giant will therefore have to adopt a different economic model from its latest ones and, why not, try to target a different audience. Hoping that this does not motivate him to increase his subscriptions once again, but nothing is less certain!