Netflix is working to bring its promising – and still embryonic – video game service to TVs for the first time, moving beyond smartphones and tablets in a sign of its growing ambitions. You have to justify having the highest prices on the market.
A hidden code in the app Netflix includes references to gaming on TVs, indicating that such a plan is underway. The code also mentions the use of the mobile phone as a controller to play their video games.
“To play on a TV you need a controller. Do you want to use this phone as a controller?“, reads one of the lines of code discovered. These were revealed by application developer Steve Moser, who shared the findings with Bloomberg.
Netflix launched its gaming initiative on iPhones, iPads and Android devices in 2021releasing titles like Into the Dead 2: Unleashed, Stranger Things 3: The Game, and Card Blast.
As you know, on Apple devices the games are released individually through the App Store (to meet that company’s 30% requirements) but they can be released through the Netflix app and require a subscription to the streaming service.
A gamer offer to compensate for its high price
The idea is to complement Netflix shows and movies and help retain customers as the company raises subscription prices and eliminates account sharing with family and friends. Now the service is more expensive than ever.
Expanding the offer to televisions would be a key milestone. Netflix is already integrated into many Smart TVs and is available on various platforms, including those from Apple, Amazon and Google.
Netflix’s plan to eventually launch a cloud gaming service it would allow users to stream games over the internet without installing them on the devices.
This approach would allow for a wider range of titles and make Netflix a competitor to companies like Microsoft and its Xbox Cloud Gaming and even non-cloud gaming service providers like Apple Arcade.