Netflix to Dive into Video Games with Ad-Free Mobile Gaming at No Extra Cost

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Netflix confirmed that it’ll expand into video games, starting with ad-free games for mobile devices like phones and tablets available on its existing service at no added cost to subscribers. In its biggest expansion into a new kind of entertainment since it started streaming in 2007 and released its first original show in 2012, Netflix sketched out broad ambitions for gaming, indicating it ultimately envisions pursuing console games for Xbox and PlayStation too. 

Netflix was clear about one thing its gaming won’t be, at least not at first: a new way to charge you money. 

Also Read: How Netflix Knows What You Want To Watch Next

“We’re a one-product company,” co-CEO Reed Hastings said during a discussion of the company’s second-quarter earnings. That product, he noted, is an all-in-one subscription that will include games. 

The move into gaming widens Netflix from its bedrock business of TV shows and movies as the world’s biggest subscription video service. As Netflix has grown, it’s long pointed out that its competition extends beyond the traditional TV and movie companies that go head-to-head with it now. The company has repeatedly called out gaming phenoms like Fortnite, as well as user-generated-video powerhouse YouTube, as some of its toughest competition because of the massive amount of entertainment hours they command worldwide. 

And the gaming industry is an economic powerhouse. A surge in interest during the pandemic last year bolstered it into a bigger market than movies and North American sports combined. The global market for video games was estimated to be worth nearly $178 billion last year and is expected to eclipse $200 billion in 2023.