Connected TV evolves as Netflix brings games directly to TV app

Netflix first released its games onto mobile phones, and now it's is launching games directly within the TV app--a new evolution of the Connected TV model.

Connected TV evolves as Netflix brings games directly to TV app
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Senior Gaming Editor
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1 minute & 45 seconds read time
TL;DR: Netflix is expanding its gaming offerings by introducing free, family-oriented party games directly on its TV app, using mobile phones as intuitive controllers. This move focuses on social, interactive experiences like Boggle and Tetris, enhancing subscriber engagement without aiming for significant revenue from gaming.

Netflix is bringing games directly to its dedicated TV app, allowing subscribers to play smaller family-oriented party games right on the service.

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Netflix has an interesting take on gaming. So far, the company has licensed (and released) actual dedicated mobile games for its users; if you're a subscriber, you can download the game for free. Netflix's biggest win so far is from games that they didn't even make--Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto mobile games were popular, but not popular enough to drive subscription adoption.

That's not Netflix's goal with games, though. The company has bifurcated its titles to make sure the games fit the platforms that they're being played on. Netflix catered its mobile game selection to solo-oriented titles, and the games coming to TVs are family night types of experiences--board games like Boggle, quiz shows like Jeopardy, etc. For Netflix, gaming is more about fostering interactivity than making a boatload of extra cash...and using devices that people already have, like mobile phones, as controllers.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters explained gaming on TVs will work:

"What's exciting is that we are now moving beyond the phone to the TV. One of the big gaming areas we're going after now is social gaming experiences that will show up on your TV. We are announcing that we are going to have a pack of party games that you can play on your TV with your phone as the controller.

"You'll recognize games like Boggle, Pictionary, a Lego Party game, we have Tetris and a mafia-style whodunnit.

"You'll be using your phone, and there's all sorts of things you can do on your phone that you can't do on a normal controller, like touchscreen, and it's dead simple to use and intuitive.

"This is us on the earliest days of how we can actually use that, and basically we're going to unleash this with a bunch of creators and they're going to go figure out stuff we didn't even imagine that they could do with that interactivity."

Like its mobile selection, Netflix's new TV-supported games will be free.