Tuesday, August 15th 2023
Netflix Cloud Gaming Beta Launches on TVs, Coming to PCs Soon
We've been focused on creating a great gaming experience for our members since 2021 when we added mobile games to Netflix. Our goal has always been to have a game for everyone, and we are working hard to meet members where they are with an accessible, smooth, and ubiquitous service. Today, we're taking the first step in making games playable on every device where our members enjoy Netflix - TVs, computers, and mobile.
We are rolling out a limited beta test to a small number of members in Canada and the UK on select TVs starting today, and on PCs and Macs through Netflix.com on supported browsers in the next few weeks. Two games will be part of this initial test: Oxenfree from Night School Studio, a Netflix Game Studio, and Molehew's Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game. To play our games on TV, we're introducing a controller that we already have in our hands most of the day - our phones. Members on PCs and Macs can play on Netflix.com with a keyboard and mouse.
This limited beta is meant to test our game streaming technology and controller, and to improve the member experience over time. Games on TV will operate on select devices from our initial partners including: Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, NVIDIA Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart ONN. Additional devices will be added on an ongoing basis.
By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world. While we're still very early in our games journey, we're excited to bring joy to members with games. We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead.
Source:
Netflix
We are rolling out a limited beta test to a small number of members in Canada and the UK on select TVs starting today, and on PCs and Macs through Netflix.com on supported browsers in the next few weeks. Two games will be part of this initial test: Oxenfree from Night School Studio, a Netflix Game Studio, and Molehew's Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game. To play our games on TV, we're introducing a controller that we already have in our hands most of the day - our phones. Members on PCs and Macs can play on Netflix.com with a keyboard and mouse.
By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world. While we're still very early in our games journey, we're excited to bring joy to members with games. We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead.
31 Comments on Netflix Cloud Gaming Beta Launches on TVs, Coming to PCs Soon
Will there be some people will to spend 30 grand or more on a gaming PC, of course. But for most people that's not going to be an economic reality.
Digital distribution didn't actually do any of those things. Used games were always an option and digital distro set out to kill that. The service quality is not better either. There was no need to have Steam to patch your games and now things are in permanent beta states.
The powers that be wanted digital distro and streaming and software as a service and so that's where we are. If they want cloud gaming that's what we will get.
Ultimately, it's the consumer that decides with their wallet. Ubiquitous broadband Internet has made SaaS and live service games a reality in the past 5-8 years. Just because some big company creates something doesn't mean it'll automatically be embraced. Look at DIVX disc rentals, HD DVD, Google Stadia, et cetera ad nauseam.
And the videogame consumer has clearly decided that shoddy releases are acceptable. Why release something high quality when it can be patched later? The customer is going to pre-order it at full retail price anyhow. We can let them do a lot of the beta testing.
Anyhow, cloud gaming is already part of the videogame landscape today and will continue to have a place in the future.
Look at the R&D budget line item in their SEC filings. It's a portion of that amount. Only Netflix accounting and senior management knows the exact figure.
You'll never know the exact amount, just like you'll never know what percentage of your airplane ticket is funding the airline's box seats at the stadium, et cetera ad nauseam.
But suffice it to say that nothing is free. Someone is always paying for something.