As we approach a new era of technology, where everything is becoming more digital, video games are beginning to evolve as well. The days of cartridges and discs being the primary means of game acquisition are long gone, with games now being downloaded directly to consoles and PCs. However, as services like Xbox Game Pass gain traction, there’s a push to migrate more video games to the cloud. This would allow gamers to completely bypass (or at least abbreviate) the download process and play games right away without having to wait for a physical copy, similar to how many people watch movies and TV episodes.
Given the similarities between TV and movies, it should come as no surprise that Netflix is intending to offer video games as well. Netflix plans to start delivering video games within the next year, according to a Bloomberg report, and they’ve engaged former members of EA and Facebook to make that goal a reality.
Netflix said on Wednesday that Mike Verdu will join the firm as vice president of game development, reporting to Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters. Verdu was previously a vice president at Facebook, where he was in charge of collaborating with developers to provide games and other content to the Oculus virtual-reality headsets.
According to a source familiar with the situation, the plan is to sell video games on Netflix’s streaming platform within the next year. The games will be shown alongside existing programming as a new genre, similar to how Netflix did with documentaries and stand-up specials. According to the individual, the corporation has no plans to charge more for the information at this time because the discussions are private.
With video games being such a rich industry, it’s understandable that Netflix would want to join in the fun, especially with so many firms wanting to copy Netflix’s concept in their own game offers. Because of the ease of use, Game Pass or Google Stadia are sometimes compared to the Netflix concept. Players pay a one-time charge to have access to an infinite library of games, which they can then pick and choose from.
While Netflix has already been involving itself more in games on the TV side and even had a segment in Summer Game Fest back in June, it’s eyebrow-raising to see they want to be into games before the end of the year. So far, cloud gaming has struggled to gain a footing because the majority of cloud offerings currently aren’t as quick or smooth as simply downloading and owning the game. But of course, with technology evolving, that could be a moot point in the very near future.
