The app isn’t available everywhere yet, but Netflix Playground will soon be accessible worldwide.

As part of its updated gaming division strategy, Netflix has unveiled an app designed specifically for children. Netflix Playground offers games exclusively for children aged eight and under, including titles from the Peppa Pig, Sesame Street, Dr. Seuss’s Horton, and The Good Dinosaur series. Netflix Playground is included with a Netflix subscription and can also be downloaded separately from app stores. The app contains no in-app purchases, fees, or ads, and the games can be played offline. It is currently available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand, with a global launch planned for April 28.

In March, Netflix announced an enhanced gaming division strategy focusing on four pillars: mainstream games, narrative games, party games, and kids’ games. In December, Emily Horgan, an independent children’s media consultant and author of The KidsStreamerSphere and the Netflix Kids Content Performance Report, examined how children fit into Netflix’s gaming strategy. Horgan spoke with Lisa Burgess, Head of Netflix Games (Kids), who said the platform is firmly focused on engaging children, not revenue.

“Many kids’ games are optimized around paywalls and acquiring paid subscribers. We’re thinking about engagement, which is transformative because it allows developers to focus on making a fun and great game rather than on the paywall. We want to focus on things that are highly recognizable and can fall into different categories. The most notable aspect is that when kids become invested in a franchise, they want to watch and play it. The connection is tighter than it is for adults. With adults, watching something doesn’t necessarily mean they want to play that style of game. With kids, it often does.

It can be a popular IP on our service. It can be a toy or literary IP, ideally with a connection to the service. We want it to be easy to understand why we have the game. In preschool especially, when kids get into an IP, they want to watch it, play it, buy the toys, and wear it. At that age, it’s like their best friend. It’s a harder audience. By age six, some children are already playing Roblox and Minecraft. The ecosystem becomes more competitive but not impossible,” said Burgess.

Currently, Netflix’s children’s games are primarily aimed at preschoolers. However, Burgess noted that the platform’s goal is to develop more experiences for children aged six to eight.

Source: WCCFTech, Insider-Gaming, ResetEra