Netflix’s latest games news comes just as the company’s stock lost more than a third of its value Wednesday, a day after reporting its first quarterly loss of subscribers in a decade. The service said it lost 700,000 subscribers after pulling out of Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
“[Netflix’s] wild entry into gaming was an indication that it needs to look beyond video streaming to keep its business humming,” said Joost van Dresden, a lecturer on the business of games at the NYU Stern School of Business. The announcement of a cross category launch of Exploding Kittens shows Netflix’s willingness to try new things, but it is not the type of release that is going to save the farm. As Netflix blames password sharing and high competition from platforms like Disney Plus and Hulu, it’s eyeing gaming as the next big opportunity. While the company is focused on creating more hit shows like “Squid Game” and “Bridgerton,” it’s also buying gaming studios with a future facing blueprint. So far, Netflix has purchased three game studios. The acquisitions of Texas based mobile firm Boss Fight Entertainment and Finland developer Next Games were announced in March. Last September, the streaming service acquired Night School Studio, which made the supernatural adventure game “Oxen free” Next Games released “Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales” last year, prior to its acquisition news. The purchases come at a time when the gaming industry is buzzing with merger deals, like Microsoft’s billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard or Sony buying Bungee for Analysts are predicting further consolidation in the gaming space, as game publishers try to stay competitive. Within this ecosystem, Netflix is looking to build out a games business that can create synergy between what people watch and what they’re playing. That includes adapting video games like Castlemaine “League of Legends,” “Data,” “Cup head,” “The Witcher” and more into shows while also adapting shows into games and tacking its name onto third party titles. For instance, Netflix branded a “League of Legends” spinoff game made by a third party developer, Choice Provisions, as a Netflix mobile game. Part of Netflix’s gaming strategy has included making key hires. Leanne Loombe, head of external games at Netflix, joined last November after working at Riot Games as a director and executive producer overseeing third party game publishing. Mike Verdun, Netflix’s vice president of games, previously led Facebook’s virtual reality division and was an executive at Electronic Arts. Amir Rahim was president of games at mobile gaming company Scopes and is now vice president of game studios, working for Verdun. The gaming division’s next big project is the adaptations of Exploding Kittens. The mobile game lands first, slated to release next month. Exploding Kittens CEO and co founder Élan Lee said the mobile game adapts the Russian roulette formula from the original card game (i.e. draw a card, hope it’s not an exploding kitten). While developing the video game, Lee said he asked, “What do we wish the physical world was capable of that suddenly we have access to in this digital space?” New additions in the mobile game include features like an hourglass timer or a card that lets you draw from the top and bottom of a deck without showing anyone else which card you chose, Lee said, adding that he drew from his experience working at Xbox as chief design officer until he left in 2014. Finally, top of the game site is Netflix video game.
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