Netflix is planning to launch its video-game service on TVs for the first time — expanding beyond smartphones and tablets — a move seen as a possible step toward a rollout of a cloud-based gaming service.
The streaming giant has expressed its interest in expanding gaming options to more devices, including working on a cloud gaming service, but a concrete timeline for these initiatives is yet to be provided, Bloomberg News reported.
The plan to add a cloud gaming service would potentially let users stream games over the internet without installing them on devices.
It could also allow for a wider array of titles and turn Netflix into a competitor to companies like Microsoft, and even providers of non-cloud gaming services such as Apple Arcade, according to reports.
The media titan’s secret codes — numbers that viewers enter into the search bar to access specific categories that cannot be found through traditional searching — include references to games played on TV sets, indicating that this plan is already in motion, according to the report.
The codes also mention the use of phones as video-game controllers.
“A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?” one line reads.
The code was discovered by app developer Steve Moser, who shared the findings with Bloomberg News.
The findings in Netflix’s app code do not guarantee that the company will proceed with the TV plan, but they do suggest that it is being tested internally.
Previous information within Netflix’s code also revealed details of its advertising initiative.
In a letter to shareholders during the Q4 earning call in January, the company reaffirmed its commitment to entertaining members through games across various media.
“We’ve made good progress in that time — creating the infrastructure to deliver games to mobile devices, building a portfolio of 50 games across many genres and acquiring four game studios to bolster our internal production capabilities,” the executives wrote.
“In 2023, we’ll continue to expand our offering with more games, with a focus on Netflix-related IP.”
The company’s stock has risen 43% over the past six months, hitting $336.36 per share Thursday morning.
Netflix launched its gaming effort on iPhones, iPads and Android devices in 2021, releasing titles such as Into the Dead 2: Unleashed, Stranger Things 3: The Game and Card Blast.
The games are also released individually through the App Store — in order to meet that company’s requirements — but they can be launched via the Netflix app and require a subscription to the streaming service.
Now the offering is built into many smart TVs and available on a number of platforms, including ones run by Apple, Amazon.com, and Alphabet (GOOG).
Meanwhile, Netflix’s main rivals in the streaming industry, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, are also venturing into the video game market. With Amazon having produced TV adaptations of the hit games like “Fallout” and “God of War,” and HBO launching a series based on the game “The Last of Us,” the competition in the industry is intensifying, Insider previously reported.
With Post wires
