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Netflix games may be coming to TV, using your iPhone as a controller

Netflix games are currently only available on iPhone, iPad, and Android – but code discovered within the app suggests that they may finally be coming to TV.

As for game controllers, the code suggests you may already own one: It references using an iPhone or Android smartphone to play them …

Developer Steve Moser shared his findings with Bloomberg.

Netflix is working to bring its nascent video-game service to television sets for the first time, moving beyond smartphones and tablets in a sign of its growing ambitions.

Code hidden within Netflix’s app includes references to games played on TVs, signaling that such a plan is in motion. The code also mentions using phones as video-game controllers.

The app includes the text:

A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?

Netflix launched mobile gaming back in 2021, with a little over 50 titles available so far, and promising 40 more this year.

The company’s plans for TV gaming are unknown, but the company’s gaming chief did say last year that it was “seriously exploring” its own cloud gaming service. Currently, Netflix mobile games are available on the App Store.

Netflix implied at the same time that the TV gaming experience would be a serious one, with Protocol reporting that it would be “more than just casual games.” It announced the creation of a new gaming development studio, with an industry heavyweight leading its efforts.

The company said Tuesday as part of its earnings release that it had an additional 55 games in its pipeline. Fourteen of those games are being built by Netflix’s own studios, Verdu said, adding that the company was going to launch an additional studio in Southern California soon. The studio will be led by Chacko Sonny, who previously served as executive producer for Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch franchise, according to a Netflix spokesperson.

Photo: Thibault Penin/Unsplash

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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