80+ Netflix Stories games in development and plans to release "about one new title per month"

Update: Netflix has clarified to GamesIndustry.biz that the 80 games in development, with one planned for release per month, are all within the interactive fiction app Netflix Stories, where titles are based on the streaming platform's movies and TV series.

Original story: Netflix has over 80 games in development and plans to release a new title to subscribers every month from July 2024 onwards.

That's according to Netflix's latest earnings call, in which co-CEO and president Gregory K Peters confirmed the company's commitment to gaming.

Citing games as a "big market" for Netflix, Peters revealed that without advertisement revenue, it is generating "almost $150 billion, ex[cluding] China and Russia."

"We're getting close to three years into our gaming initiative, and we're happy with the progress that we've seen," Peters said.

"We've had set ourselves pretty aggressive engagement growth targets. And we've met those, exceeded those in many cases. In 2023, we tripled that engagement. We're looking good in our engagement growth in '24, and we've set even more aggressive growth goals for '25 and '26."

That said, Peters admitted that engagement with gaming "is still quite small", and – when comparing games with the streaming service's "overall content spend" – that, too, is "quite small".

Peters also confirmed that Netflix had launched "over 100 games so far".

"We've seen what works, what doesn't work," Peters added. "We're refining our program to do more of what is working with the 80-plus games that we currently have in development. And one of those things that really is working is connecting our members with games based on specific Netflix IP that they love.

"And this is an area that we've been able to move in quickly in a particular space, which is interactive narrative games. These are easier to build. And we place those in a narrative hub that we call Netflix Stories."

Between April and June 2024, Netflix launched Virgin River and Perfect Match, and starting this month, plans to release "about one new title per month".

"We have lots more, including very different types of games yet to come in the quarters and years ahead," Peters said.

Co-CEO and president and director Theodore A Sarandos concurred with Peters' position, confirming he was "really excited about the opportunity in games."

"I think our opportunity here to serve super fandom with games is really fun and remarkable," Sarandos said.

"I think the idea of being able to take a show and give the superfan a place to be in between seasons and even beyond that, to be able to use the game platform to introduce new characters and new storylines or new plot twist events [...] I'm really excited to see where this goes."

Netflix's VP of Games Mike Verdu recently moved to take on a new role at Netflix as the company ramps up its ambitions in the video games space.

Jamie Brayshaw, Ripstone's head of partnerships, recently opened up about how the studio convinced Netflix to let them develop a Queen's Gambit title.