The popular streaming platform has started testing cloud game streaming on various platforms.
The 14th marked the first day of Netflix’s cloud-streamed game testing. In Canada and the UK, users gained the ability to initiate gameplay of Netflix games through direct streaming to their televisions, media devices, and the official Netflix website.
According to Netflix, the test is very limited and only open to a handful of users, but the company does have plans to expand the testing in the coming weeks.
Netflix posted a blog stating:
“Two games will be part of this initial test: Oxenfree from Night School Studio, a Netflix Game Studio, and Molehew’s Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game. To play our games on TV, we’re introducing a controller that we already have in our hands most of the day — our phones. Members on PCs and Macs can play on Netflix.com with a keyboard and mouse.”
They stated that the games available on TV will “Operate on select devices from our initial partners including Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart ONN. Additional devices will be added on an ongoing basis.”
In November 2021, the company introduced its mobile gaming offerings as a complimentary benefit. Until now, these titles have only been available on iOS and Android devices.
Subscribers could potentially enjoy Netflix’s games on more devices through cloud streaming by extending the availability of Netflix’s games to televisions and web browsers. Netflix is also positioning itself to compete in the television and personal computer gaming market.
While playing on a television, game control will be managed via your smartphone. For Android users, the controller will be integrated into the Netflix app, while iOS users will require a dedicated controller app to be downloaded. When accessing games on the web, gameplay will be facilitated using a mouse and keyboard.
This new venture presents both opportunities and challenges for Netflix and its users, but it appears the company has allowed for some margin of error. Should this initiative not succeed, users can still rely on the 70 mobile games currently available through Netflix.