According to a report from Bloomberg, there’s a chance you could be playing the latest Netflix-made video games by this time next year.
Not content with making waves in the entertainment industry, one terrible Adam Sandler film at a time, it appears as though Netflix hopes to follow suit with the video game industry as well. At least that’s according to a recent report out of Bloomberg.
According to outlet, the streaming giant has just hired Mike Verdu, whose previous credits include stints at both Electronic Arts (known for publishing behemoths like the upcoming FIFA 22) and Facebook, to get things started. Verdu will be joining Netflix as the company’s “vice president of game development”.
Bloomberg’s report also indicates that the idea is to “offer video games on Netflix’s streaming platform within the next year, according to a person familiar with the situation.”
It might seem like a strange move, but Netflix has kind of been dabbling in the gaming space for a little while now. Titles like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and You vs. Wild both experimented with a choose-your-own-adventure-styled experience, but we’d have to assume that whatever comes out of this gaming division would be a little meatier.
Watch the trailer for one of Netflix’s prior attempts at video games below:
That said, the mysterious source went on to claim that the new content wouldn’t just appear on the platform as another type of content to browse, but that there were no plans to charge extra for it.
Considering the huge costs involved in video game production (which are only increasing with the new generation), there’s a good chance these will be much smaller in scale to ensure they don’t eat into Netflix’s overall profits. Perhaps something more along the lines of Stranger Things 3: The Game, which hit consoles and mobiles in 2019.
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The big question is how far down the rabbit hole the company will go. Will it try to create a unique controller, for example? Or can you just use your run-of-the-mill television remote?
It’s a bloody big move, and one that is fraught with danger. Google, for example, has endured an absolute shitshow with its Stadia offering that it still hasn’t even made its way to Oz.
We’ll wait with baited breath to see what this eventuates into, but please, for the love of Christ, leave Adam Sandler out of this.
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