Netflix has officially announced that it is bringing more games to more devices, including TVs, computers and mobiles after a games controller app leaked last week.
The streamer is rolling out a limited beta test of its new gaming service to a “small number” of members in Canada and the UK on select TVs as of today and on PCs and Macs through Netflix.com over the next few weeks.
Subscribers will be able to play the supernatural thriller Oxenfree and Molehew’s Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game. Oxenfree was developed by Night School Studio, which Netflix owns. Users will be able to play both games with a phone if they’re using their TVs or a keyboard and mouse if they’re using a PC or Mac on Netflix.com.
“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,” wrote Mike Verdu, the company’s VP of Games in a blog post.
The news follows slightly disappointing earnings for Netflix which saw the company miss its revenue target despite its revenue and the number of subscribers it has climbing. The company is also having to contend with the ongoing writers and actors strike in the US that is hampering almost all film and TV series production.
Its further expansion into gaming could see Netflix add another string to its revenue bow. However, when Google tried a similar cloud gaming service — Stadia — it did not bode well. The company shuttered the service in January after less than four years on the market citing a lack of user uptake.
There is also no word on how Netflix will monetise its gaming service, at the moment it is simply a free add-on to its existing subscriptions.
