Netflix’s games were once its best-kept secret – where did it all go wrong?

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When Netflix first started adding video games to its huge catalogue of streaming TV shows and films, it did so quietly. In 2021, after releasing an impressive experiment with the idea of interactive film in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch in 2018 and a free Stranger Things game in 2019, Netflix began expanding more fully into interactive entertainment.

The streamer’s gaming offering, for a long time, was its best-kept secret. Whoever was running it really had an eye for quality: award-winningly brilliant and relatively little-known indie games comprised the majority of its catalogue, alongside decent licensed games based on everything from The Queen’s Gambit to the reality dating show Too Hot to Handle. Subscribers could play games such as Before Your Eyes, a brief and touching story about a life cut short; Spiritfarer, about guiding lost souls to rest and Into the Breach, a superb sci-fi strategy game with robots v aliens. The company bought or invested in several game studios known for making critically acclaimed work, including London-based Ustwo games (which was behind Monument Valley). It also established a studio in California to work on blockbuster games, staffed by veteran developers.

But it seems things are changing. That blockbuster studio has been closed, as first reported by Game File, before it could ever release a game. Its latest tie-in game, Squid Game Unleashed, absolutely sucks – it’s constructed around the celebration of slapstick violence, making it a terrible fit for a satirically violent show about capitalist exploitation. Funding a bunch of indie darlings and hiring big-name talent from the likes of Blizzard and Bungie for its game studio gave the impression that Netflix really was keen on becoming a part of the gaming industry, and doing it properly. Now that is very much in question.

The company has made layoffs across its gaming divisions, including at Night Studio – makers of weird-fiction supernatural teen horror series Oxenfree. It has cancelled plans for several forthcoming games that were due to join the service, including indie hits Thirsty Suitors and Don’t Starve Together, and promising-looking hobbit game Tales of the Shire. What’s going on?

There have been several changes of leadership. Christopher Lee, a former EA executive who was made the company’s first head of games in 2016, left to join Xbox in 2022. Mike Verdu, another former executive at EA and Oculus, became head of game development in 2021 but has since been replaced by Alain Tuscan, hired from Epic (the makers of Fortnite). Meanwhile, the firm’s head of developer relations Leanne Loombe – who presumably has excellent taste, having brought so many wonderful indie games to the service since joining in 2021 – left earlier this year.

These significant strategic changes have happened in the past six months since Tuscan took over. Current co-CEO Greg Peters said in an earnings call early this year that Netflix was refocusing its gaming efforts. “Based on all our learnings and under the leadership of Alain Tuscan we are refining our strategy.” Peters described how the streamer would focus on narrative games based on Netflix intellectual property such as party and couch co-op games, saying: “We think of this as a successor to family board game night, or an evolution of what the TV game show used to be … games for kids, no ads, no payments … and more recognisable mainstream titles.”

None of that looks great for any of the studios Netflix has bought over the past few years, all of which were lauded for their original, creative and unusual games.

The inevitable conclusion is that Netflix is retreating to a safe, predictable gaming strategy, which is immensely disappointing for anyone who hoped that the streaming giant might be a much-needed source of investment in gaming creativity. In the earnings call, Peters kept reiterating how successful that Squid Game tie-in had been: depressingly, it is the company’s most successful game, despite being as thin and transparent as a piece of wet tissue. It looks as if we can expect much more of that in future.

I had once worried that, like Google before it, Netflix would simply exit the gaming space as soon as it became evident that it is a really expensive, unpredictable and difficult business to break into. It seems that the streaming giant is keen on sticking around, but no longer so keen on investing in creativity and quality. I would urge whoever takes up the $1.3m job as Netflix’s next face of games to remember that these things are not mutually exclusive. By investing in originality alongside those nailed-on licensed games and big names, you will ensure that Netflix has a real future in games. One can fund the other, and the one eternal truth of the games business is that quality really, really matters – and gamers know when they’re being condescended to.

What to play

The latest in Capcom’s superb action series, Monster Hunter Wilds, is out this week. I’ve played these games for almost 20 years, and about 12 of those were spent trying to convince people that they do get good eventually, after you get past the initial boring gathering quests and steep learning curve. Monster Hunter World, from 2018, made the series a lot friendlier, though, and Wilds makes it friendlier still: its 15-hour single-player story is full of dramatic and exciting fights against awe-inspiring, intimidating creatures.

It’s like an extended tutorial on what makes Monster Hunter brilliant. After the first couple of quests you will need no further convincing, even if you’ve never played one of these games before.

Available on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X
Estimated playtime: 15 hours for the story, then potentially 100 more hours of hunting fun

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Microsoft used the game Bleeding Edge to train a new generative AI model called Muse, that can create gameplay footage.

Microsoft has unveiled a new generative AI model, Muse, that can create gameplay footage. They call it a World and Human Action Model (WHAM). It was trained on a Ninja Theory game, Bleeding Edge, seemingly without its players’ knowledge. Wired quotes many game developers who hate this entire idea, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella from enthusing about the possibility of a whole game catalogue made by AI.
The publisher of the ludicrously compulsive card game Balatro won a victory recently, persuading PEGI to downgrade the game’s age rating from an 18-plus to 12-plus. (It is not a gambling game, but it does feature playing cards and a version of poker rules, hence the adult-only rating.) “This is a good step from PEGI – bringing nuance to their ratings criteria,” said the game’s developer. “I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has leaked after retailers broke its street date, meaning players have been streaming the game from their physical disc copies. If you’re looking forward to it, beware the internet for spoilers.
NetEase, a Chinese company that has invested hugely in western and Japanese game development recently, is reportedly scaling back its interest in video games, putting more than a dozen studios at risk. Bloomberg reports that hundreds of jobs and several games have already been canned.
Warner Bros Discovery has cancelled its Wonder Woman game and is closing three of its video game development studios, reports Reuters. The company joins Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony, who closed offices last year to reduce costs.

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Question Block

Reader Michael asks:

“My sister has rigid screen-time restrictions for her 10-year old son, who isn’t allowed a Switch but is obsessed with video games. As his uncle, and as a game designer, I want to fuel his passion, but I respect her boundaries. Unfortunately, his limited game time is largely spent playing dopamine-fuelled, hyper-casual games on a web browser. I’ve been advocating for a Switch so he can play something more nutritious. She has cautiously asked me to recommend some appropriate games. Top of my list are Mario, Zelda and Animal Crossing. Since you’re a mother and a gamer, are there any in particular you’d recommend?”

You can’t go far wrong with Nintendo’s games in terms of safety and child appropriateness. (I also appreciate that the Switch doesn’t have a YouTube app, or an easily accessible web browser.) For a 10-year-old, it’s going to come down to what he’s interested in: is he into adventure stories? If so, Zelda is the thing (BOTW is a 12 but if your sister is strict about that, Link’s Awakening is 7-plus). My animal and dinosaur-obsessed boy loved Pokémon passionately (Sword and Shield are the best Switch picks). Mario is a huge hit in my house with both my kids. Despite their very different personalities, they both adore Mario Party Jamboree – I think as adults we often dismiss these casual-ish party games but there’s tremendous variety and creativity in the 100+ different minigames. Minecraft (offline!) is also obviously a mainstay for that age group, too. Nintendo Labo is also a parent-pleasing option due to all the cardboard crafting, if your sister is coming around from a belief that video games are inherently bad.

I’ve had many versions of this conversation with other parents who aren’t enmeshed in gaming themselves. It has reminded me that when parents try to ban something, we often create problems that we’re not aware of. Your nephew is fascinated by video games, but he’s playing the least nourishing versions of them possible through the only means he has. My parents restricted my own game-playing time to weekends only when I was wee, hoping to put the brakes on my passion for them. (That worked out brilliantly.) Where possible, I think we’re often better off engaging with the things our kids enjoy, while also helping them moderate themselves and keep to our boundaries. It’s time-intensive, but worthwhile.

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