MOVIE NEWS – The streaming giant recently posted losses, but it seems there’s always another trick up Netflix’s sleeve.

Netflix has built its base on easy DVD rentals and often forgettable but mass-produced TV series – ones that people talk about for a week or so before they forget they ever existed. Now, in the midst of rare financial stagnation, Netflix plans to make a hard commitment to games, at least according to a recent report in The Washington Post.

Early last week, Netflix said it had lost 200,000 subscribers in the first three months of the year.

According to Bloomberg, that news, along with the projected loss of another 2 million subscribers, has caused a staggering 35 per cent drop in the stock price, the company’s most significant reduction in nearly 20 years.

The Post, speaking to “sources familiar with the company’s thinking”, reported that Netflix plans to make 50 games available before the end of the year. For example, the popular mobile game Exploding Kittens is based on the slightly sadistic card game with exploding kittens and – optionally – lots and lots of alcohol. No joke: Netflix wants to make a series out of it!

Typically, Netflix’s foray into the video game market has been about licensing IP or adapting wildly popular games with moderate success.

Arcane, an animated series based on League of Legends, got off to an absolutely bumper start. (A second season is planned, but there is no release window.) The massive Castlevania series recently completed a successful four-season run, and a sequel is in the works. And, of course, there’s the cultural behemoth The Witcher. With two live-action seasons and an animated movie, plus another live-action movie in the works, there’s no sign of slowing down. Not to mention Dota: Dragon’s Blood.

Following a popular trend, Netflix has also started buying up game development studios. The most notable so far is Night School Studios, which developed Oxenfree and was acquired by Netflix last September. The studio’s next game, Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, is scheduled for release sometime this year for Switch, PlayStation and PC.

It’s clear that the streaming giant’s plans for a significant foray into the games market were underway long before it reported loss-making numbers this week.

And the declining subscriptions can be attributed to several factors, including the still ongoing pandemic and the proliferation of competing streaming services such as HBO Max and Paramount+ (the only channel willing to show Master Chief’s butt). The message is clear, however: there’s a lot of money in games that can’t be left solely in the hands of the gaming tech giants…

Source: The Washington Post