Netflix to explore cloud gaming, open new studio with ex-Overwatch exec

Netflix has made significant investments over the past year in gaming through the streaming service’s mobile app. And, if recent comments by the company’s VP of gaming are any indication, the streamer has its sights set on cloud gaming next.

According to TechCrunch, Netflix’s Mike Verdu said on Tuesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 conference that the company is “seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering.” Verdu also announced that Netflix would be opening a new gaming studio in Southern California, the fifth games studio owned by Netflix to date, headed by Chacko Sonny, former executive producer on Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch and former director of product development at PlayStation’s Santa Monica Studio.

“We’re not asking you to subscribe as a console replacement,” Verdu told TechCrunch Disrupt attendees. “It’s a completely different business model. The hope is over time that it just becomes this very natural way to play games wherever you are.”

Netflix isn’t the only company to have ambitions in cloud gaming. Amazon and Google both launched cloud-based gaming platforms called Luna and Stadia respectively to try and corner the market. Google’s VP of Stadia Phil Harrison said last month that Stadia would be closed in January 2023.

Commenting on the recent announcement, Verdu stated that “Stadia was a technical success. Stadia was really fun. [but] it had some issues with the business model, sure.”

According to recent data from analytics company Apptopia published in CNBC in August, an average of 1.7 million daily users have downloaded games via Netflix’s mobile app, less than 1% of Netflix’s 221 million subscriber base. It is the home of a number of highly acclaimed, critically acclaimed titles like The Breach, Poinpy, Before Your EyesAnd Spiritfarer, as well as newer titles like ustwo games’ Desta: Memories Between.