After losing its dominance over the video streaming space, it appears that Netflix is ready to embark on a new venture and try to succeed where Google failed. Simply put, Netflix will try to enter the cloud gaming space as well.
As Netflix VP of Gaming Mike Verdu revealed at TechCrunch Disrupt, the streaming giant is “seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering.”
This comes after Netflix already launched a Games tab in its stock Netflix app, which holds some 25 mobile games. But apparently — this was only a first step.
Verdu also stated that Netflix’s answer to Luna and GeForce Now won’t be a subscription service that will play as a console replacement. He said that it will be a “value add” and will work in a “completely different business model” than the recently-failed Stadia.
According to Verdu, Stadia’s struggles to gain traction with customers wasn’t the technology it utilized, it was precisely the business model Google used. But Netflix hopes that, over time, its way of implementing its cloud gaming service will become the “very natural way to play games wherever you are.”
Verdu didn’t say when we could expect Netflix to launch its cloud gaming service, but he shared that the streaming company is currently working on 55 new games, and it’s opening a gaming studio in Southern California. The games are based on original properties like “Stranger Things,” as well as licensed ones like “Spongebob Squarepants.”
As for the new gaming studio, Verdu said that the former executive producer of “Overwatch,” Chacko Sonny, will get behind the wheel and lead it. According to Verdu, Sonny joining Netflix shows that the streaming giant is in the gaming industry for “the long haul” and “for the right reasons.”