Netflix is currently testing its new gaming service in Poland. However, the Netflix Games section is not a cloud gaming service. However, users with a subscription can download the games via app at no additional cost.
It was already announced in July 2021 that Netflix wants to gain a foothold in the gaming industry in the future. With the signing of video game developer Mike Verdu, the streaming giant underlined its ambitions and at the same time fueled speculation. In many places, there was talk of a cloud gaming service. But the current test phase in Poland reveals other plans.
Netflix Games: No Cloud Gaming Service
In Poland, Netflix subscribers can currently access a new section: Netflix Games, or N-Games for short. As part of a test phase, two titles are currently available to users there: “Stranger Things 1984” and “Stranger Things 3: The Game,” two in-house productions of the popular Netflix series Stranger Things.
Contrary to numerous speculations and claims, however, Netflix Games is not a cloud gaming service. This means that the games cannot be played directly in the Netflix app, but have to be downloaded conventionally.
Within the new section, Netflix links to the Google Play Store instead. There, Android users and Netflix subscribers can download the games to their smartphones at no additional cost. So far, there is no streaming offer for games.
Netflix’s plans for gaming
However, Netflix is making a promise to its subscribers with its new gaming offer: The games are to be an integral part of existing subscriptions, without advertising and without additional costs. A separate subscription model for games, which would at least be conceivable, has thus been ruled out by the company so far.
In addition, the streaming service wants to provide its users with more games in the future after the test phase – also in other countries. Netflix is obviously trying to create an additional incentive for future subscriptions.
As with the Stranger Things games, future games will probably be additional in-house productions of the Netflix originals. A service for iOS devices is also conceivable. Whether there will also be a cloud gaming service from Netflix in the future is at least questionable.
With the current test phase in Poland, speculation about this is a long way off for the time being.
