Netflix will include its videogames as part of its customers’ monthly subscription with an initial focus on mobile games, the company said in its quarterly letter to investors.
“We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV. Games will be included in members’ Netflix subscription at no additional cost similar to films and series,” the investors letter said. “Initially, we’ll be primarily focused on games for mobile devices. We’re excited as ever about our movies and TV series offering and we expect a long runway of increasing investment and growth across all of our existing content categories, but since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games.”
Netflix’s foray into gaming was teased earlier this month with the streaming giant’s new deal with Shonda Rhimes, which included gaming and virtual reality content. A report in May from The Information said Netflix had “approached veteran game industry executives about joining the company.”
Last week, Netflix hired former Facebook and EA executive Mike Verdu to lead the streaming company’s push into gaming. Verdu will join as vice president of game development and report to COO Greg Peters.
Gaming isn’t completely foreign to Netflix – it made a “Stranger Things” video game with an outside company, and its “Castlevania” series is based on the Konami video game of the same name.