Netflix to Release Monthly Games Based on Its IP Starting in July

Netflix is three years into its games initiative and announced plans to release approximately one game per month starting in July. This move is part of its Netflix Stories series, which focuses on creating games based on the giant streamer’s intellectual properties.

Netflix Stories, launched in September 2023 with the title “Love is Blind,” has expanded its catalog to include interactive fiction games rooted in popular series and films. In the second quarter, titles like “Virgin River” and “Perfect Match” were added to the collection. This month, the platform ramps up its offerings with “Emily in Paris” and “Selling Sunset.” Additionally, a multiplayer game set in the “Squid Game” universe is set to release later this year, aligning with the launch of Season 2 of Netflix’s hit TV series.

Despite the success of big, existing games like “Grand Theft Auto,” Netflix executives are especially excited about games timed to the releases of new series or films. As co-CEO Ted Sarandos notes, the games initiative allows the platform to “serve its super fandom with games.”

“It gives the superfans a place to be in between seasons. And even beyond that, to be able to use the game platform to introduce new characters and new storylines or new plot twists, events. Now you could do those kinds of things, and then they could then materialize in the next season, or in the sequel to the film,” Sarandos elaborated during a video call following the streamer’s latest quarterly earnings.

“I’m really excited to see where this goes,” he added.

Although Netflix hasn’t provided detailed financial or engagement metrics for its gaming division, co-CEO Greg Peters stated that the company has met or exceeded its aggressive engagement and growth targets so far. He acknowledged that the impact of games on Netflix’s overall business remains “quite small,” as does the investment relative to the company’s overall content budget.

“We’re being disciplined about how we scale. So now the job is to continue to grow that engagement to the place where it has a material impact on the business,” Peters explained.

He noted that this careful scaling is typical for all new Netflix ventures, whether it’s a new content genre like unscripted shows or films, or strategies for optimizing content in particular countries. More recently, this approach has extended to live events and sports.

“We continually iterate, we refine our programming based on the signals we get from our members. And if you look over several years with that model, we can make a huge amount of progress,” Peters added.

To date, Netflix has launched more than 100 games, continually assessing their performance to adjust strategies. Over 80 games are currently in development.