According to statistics from market research firm Apptopia, Netflix's games have been downloaded 2330 million times and have 170 million daily active users. However, compared to Netflix's total number of 2.21 million subscribers, the proportion of people using the game service is obviously less than 1%.
Netflix has currently launched at least 24 games, many of which are related to its own original series and movies, such as content based on "Stranger Things". It also includes a number of easy-to-play short games. It is expected that the number of games will increase to 50 by the end of this year, including a board game based on "The Queen's Gambit".
According to Netflix's Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters, the main purpose of launching gaming content is to increase user stickiness. At the same time, it can also extend the user experience of video content through gaming works, or attract more people to watch the original works through gaming, thereby increasing the usage rate of Netflix services.
At the beginning of this year, Netflix's overall user base declined significantly due to economic factors, the Ukraine-Russia war, and the fact that TikTok and Epic Games provided content to attract a large number of users. The decline was even more obvious in the second quarter. Therefore, Netflix plans to use more ways to keep users using the service and try to increase the number of new users.
In addition to continuously releasing original content to attract attention and trying to prevent too many people from using family plans to circumvent paid subscription plans, Netflix currently plans to create greater service usage stickiness through gaming content. In the long term, it plans to complement gaming content with video content, and even plans to introduce third-party gaming content in the future to drive more game usage.
Netflix has not disclosed its investment in the gaming business, but it has accumulated a considerable amount of investment since its acquisition of Next Games, the Finnish game developer that created the mobile game "Stranger Things", for 3 million euros (about 6500 million US dollars) in March this year. In September last year, it also announced the acquisition of Night School Studio, which created the independent horror adventure game "Oxenfree".
However, Netflix hasn't yet generated significant revenue, and its overall gaming business remains in the testing and experimental stages, with most users unaware of its entry into the gaming industry. However, some market analysts believe Netflix is still in its experimental stages and hopes to create new growth opportunities through gaming.
