The company still considers itself in the very early stages of its gaming initiative but hasn’t ruled out expansions beyond mobile - though we understand it won’t be heading to the console or VR at this point. “ We hope over time that the balance is like, 50% Netflix IP,” Verdu said. These games include experiences based on original IP like “Stranger Things,” as well as licensed IP like “Spongebob Squarepants.” Netflix is also developing original games. In total, Verdu said it has 55 games “in flight” at present. Since it announced its foray into gaming, Netflix has 14 games in development in its own studios and has 35 games on the service now. “You don’t get people like that coming to your organization to build the next big thing in gaming unless there’s a sense that we’re really in it for the long haul and in it for the right reasons.” “He could have done anything, but he chose to come here,” said Verdu. Sonny announced his departure from Blizzard last year in the wake of an SEC probe regarding sexual harassment and discrimination at the dominant gaming company. The new California studio will be led by Chacko Sonny, the former executive producer on “Overwatch.” At Blizzard Entertainment, “Overwatch” was a massive success, netting billions of dollars. Others include Boss Fight Entertainment, Night School Studio and Finland’s Next Games, which are each designed to develop games catering to different tastes. This is the company’s fifth studio - just last month, Netflix set up shop in Helsinki, Finland with a former Zynga GM at the helm. He did reveal, though, that Netflix is stepping up its game development by opening an internal studio in Southern California. Verdu thinks these products struggled due to their business models, not the technology itself.īoth Stadia and Luna have dedicated controllers - but Verdu was reticent to say whether we can expect a Netflix gaming controller in the future. “While Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” Stadia VP and GM Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post. Google recently said that it will shut down Stadia in January. But these services have struggled to attain mainstream user adoption. Google’s Stadia and Amazon’s Luna have made the same play, attempting to peddle video games that people can play even if they don’t have an expensive gaming computer or coveted console. The hope is over time that it just becomes this very natural way to play games wherever you are.” “It’s a completely different business model. We’re not asking you to subscribe as a console replacement,” Verdu said on stage. Verdu said that Netflix is “seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering.” The company will also open a new gaming studio in Southern California. At TechCrunch Disrupt, Netflix VP of Gaming Mike Verdu dropped two bits of news about the streaming giant’s foray into games.
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