Netflix Jumps Into Video Game Business

Netflix’s stock price is on the rise again in pre-market trading on Thursday after spiking to $547.95 at market close yesterday.

The reason: a revelation that Netflix is completely serious about expanding into video games.

The streaming titan has hired former Electronic Arts and Facebook executive, Mike Verdu, as vice president of game development, Bloomberg reported. It’s a major step in what’s ultimately a massive effort for the company.

• Netflix plans to offer video games on its platform by 2022.
• It will be the first time the streamer ventures into content beyond film and TV.
• Right now, it doesn’t intend to charge an additional fee to access games.

Netflix has expressed its admiration for the video game industry for some time now. In a letter to its shareholders in 2019, the company wrote: “We compete with (and lose to) ‘Fortnite’ more than HBO.”

“There’s no doubt that games are going to be an important form of entertainment and important modality to deepen that fan experience, so we’re going to keep going,” COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters said when discussing expansion on Netflix’s earnings call in April.

It won’t necessarily be an easy transition.

Amazon Game Studios has been unable to make any headway into gaming, despite spending $500 million annually on myriad gaming projects since 2014.