Netflix is trying to diversify its income as the company launched last year a video game catalog for iOS and Android users. While the streaming service already offers 24 games and plans to add 26 more by the end of the year, a study showed less than 1% of its subscribers are playing the games.
According to Apptopia (via CNBC), an average of 1.7 million people are engaging with Netflix’s games, which is less than 1% of the company’s 221 million subscribers. The games have been downloaded a total of 23.3 million times.
Although the service includes big titles from its shows, such as Stranger Things, they don’t appear to be convincing people, as the company has also lost 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2022.
As noted by CNBC, Netflix appears to have taken a shot in the dark, as its COO Greg Peters said last year the company was “many months and really, frankly years” into learning how games can keep customers on the service.
“We’re going to be experimental and try a bunch of things,” Peters said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call. “But I would say the eyes that we have on the long-term prize really center more around our ability to create properties that are connected to the universes, the characters, the stories that we’re building.”
While Netflix still hasn’t found its big hit game, the company is running against time to offer a new ad-based subscription for its users, as it wants to keep growing and making money.
When compared to Apple Arcade, Netflix doesn’t have the same option to experiment “and try a bunch of things.” With more than 200 games, Arcade offers classic iOS games and exclusive titles while it’s bundled with every Apple One subscription.
Apple enriches users’ experience with its bundled services such as Music, Arcade, TV+, and iCloud, while Netflix needs to generate income from the games – which doesn’t seem the case as of now.
What is also important to note is that the company offers many more games on Android devices than on iOS. Android also brings a bundled experience, since you can find all the games on Netflix’s main app, while you have to download them separately on your iPhone/iPad App Store.
Have you ever played a Netflix game? How did you like it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Read more:
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