Netflix to offer mobile games to subscribers at no extra cost

As part of their push into games, Netflix has announced that it will begin to bring mobile games to its service, in an Apple Arcade-style system.

The streaming service outlined its plans in a letter to shareholders, saying that it was in the “early stages of further expanding into games.”

Netflix says that it wishes to build upon their “earlier efforts around interactivity,” referencing both Black Mirror Bandersnatch and Netflix’s Stranger Things games. Netflix went on to say that it views games as “another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV.”

Games will be included in members’ Netflix subscription at no additional cost, and there will be an initial focus on mobile games.

“We’re excited as ever about our movies and TV series offering and we expect a long runway of increasing investment and growth across all of our existing content categories,” said Netflix, “but since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games.”

Additionally, Netflix noted that it viewed Fortnite creator Epic Games as a competitor for for screen time, alongside YouTube and TikTok.

Rumours first surfaced that Netflix had plans to expand its gaming efforts back in May this year, including its ambitions for an Apple Arcade-style service. Just last week Netflix announced that it had hired industry veteran Mike Verdu to head up game development at the company.