Maybe we’ll get more Telltale games.
That could be successful I think. I mean, I am not the target audience, but I know a lot of people, like many of my students for example, who play games on their mobile devices all the time, and would really go for stuff like a Witcher or a Stranger Things title.
How about a “Blacklist” comedy game? Erm, maybe not.
Well, Apple arcade has core gamer games too. Not AAA stuff, but it’s not all typical mobile games either. But I see your point.
I agree the where games are played is important. I don’t know if they will limit themselves to mobile type stuff, but for Netflix watched on TV, what’s going to be the control paradigm? They can’t do complex control schemes if they try to target the same audience. So it seems Telltale style “choose between a set of options” designs will predominate. It would also tie in with their stated focus on story driven content. It also means infrastructure is less critical and lag a non-issue (which might help until they refine their technology… Do they have the technology?).
Moreover, I’m not sure of the market if they don’t go after core gamers willing to splurge for a subscription to access meatier stuff. The mobile market does microtransactions for profit. It’s unclear a subscription model would work with a catalog based on the same type of games you can just play for free. Can production values make perceived customer value higher on these kind of products? I dunno, it doesn’t seem like it necessarily tracks (although I’d say recent successful Asian games have really gone for high production values, so maybe this is changing).
But still, if the type of games offered are similar to games you can play for free, the value of a subscription is diminished. If the goal is new subscribers instead of retention (which it clearly is, their growth is slowing and they need to find new sources of subscribers), it might not cut it.
I would love to be wrong, but I don’t know how any seemingly cool ideas play to Netflix’s strengths. Google tried really hard to leverage datacenter locality for streaming games and failed, and Netflix doesn’t have anywhere near their footprint. They have a saturated client installbase in the US, but on such a variety of devices that any game library would too fragmented to catch fire. They have deep pockets, but no platforms where they have enough control to recoup investments in growing a subscription library.
I’m totally on board if they go heavy on Telltale-style choice games, though :)
No streaming, just release on iOS, Android, and Roku. That covers most bases other than most smart TV platforms, which simply can’t play real games.
If that’s what they are doing I hope they are not investing too much on it. It’s very unlikely to drive growth.
As an investor in Netflix, you mean?
Remember, they started out mailing DVDs to people. Netflix is quick on its feet, and it has tons of cash to explore new ways to provide value to its subscribers.
Teiman
1965
Lets play devil advocate:
I trough allmost all mobile games where free Pay To Pay. Why would anyone pay a fee to access games that are already free.
As an owner of a small studio that wants a subscription game streaming platform war :). I’ve seen the audiovisual sector (my previous industry) explode with the arrival of streaming platforms. From it being hard to land a creative job to juniors being hired as soon as the finish school. Hell, was I 5 years younger I don’t think I’d have changed career paths.
Netflix’s flexibility and willingness to commit to huge investments is one of the reasons I think they might make the right choices, but everything’s pretty cryptic so far. Telltale style stuff seems to be the path of less resistance given what they’ve said.
Nothing is free, those games are aggressively monetized. I would never consider playing any of them.
Telltale-like narrative adventures seem like a natural fit for sure. But again, Netflix has billions in the bank-- if I were in their shoes, I would throw a bunch of darts at the wall and see what sticks. What I wouldn’t do is target smaller indie games like Apple. You want word of mouth, you want people to stand around the archetypical watercooler in their hypothetical offices and talk about the huge new game you just released. You want buzz. Small releases don’t do that.
Menzo
1968
Hi, I’m Apple Arcade, and I’ve been around for almost a year. Let me introduce you to myself.
Yes for subscriber acquisition, not so much for retention. For every The Queen there are hundreds of minor, cheap series in their service. Same with HBO and others. You need content for every target user group, and some segments are not big enough to warrant big budget stuff.
My biggest issue with Apple Arcade is that after the initial releases, the rhythm of new exclusive content slowed down a lot. If you do small games you need much more of them, and they are missing the big tentpole exclusives anyway.
This is a value-added service, like Amazon Prime Video and Music and Twitch Prime. You primarily sign up for 2-day shipping, the shows and music and videogames you get are all gravy.
I agree ultimately when you spin it off you want both tenpole releases and steady-state, but that would be far in the future-- for right now, I envision Netflix bundling it with their video streaming service. Netflix doesn’t have a problem with retention, they need new customers.
They’ve been working pretty closely with CDPR on their Witcher stuff this season. I’m going to start the rumor that Netflix is looking into buying CDPR.
Nesrie
1972
Create a video or something; maybe you’ll get some clicks.
Also make a really exaggerated face with eyes bulging and red arrows pointing at nothing in particular for the thumbnail.
Wonder if Netflix might be interested in something like what Genvid is working on - which is basically a way to do gamify streaming beyond what’s possible right now.
They’re hiring some ex-Netflix execs onto the board so I’m sure that’s what they’re hoping for.
Agree. Only that “far in the future” can be just 2-3 years if things pick up (or a decade if they don’t).
Anyway, I’m intrigued, because it could go any way, and Netflix is aggressive and dynamic enough so they can avoid Google and Amazon’s missteps. Let’s see how things go.
JD
1976
And Tencent acquires another one…
When are they actually going to buy something for ten cents? Sheesh.
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