It was May of last year when, by surprise, we found information that Netflix could be preparing a video game subscription service. It is curious because, until that moment, whenever there was talk of a game subscription service, it was common to use the crutch “The Netflix of video games”. No one imagined, when the term began to be coined, that over time we could talk about the Netflix of games, literally.
A couple of months later, now a little over a year ago, Netflix had everything ready for its launch and, just a week later, the very good news arrived that the new service would be included in the normal Netflix fee. Already at the end of August of last year the tests began and, just released in the fall, we were already able to start enjoying the Netflix games of video games in our country.
Since then, some more games have timidly been added to the service, although the company’s plans are quite ambitious, since they intend to reach 50 titles by the end of this year. And it seems like a pretty determined bet, because in addition to having already reached agreements with several developers, the company has acquired no less than three independent studios (Boss Fight Entertainment, Next Games and Night School), something that seems like a good move, since At the moment its game proposal does not seem to have caught on among users.
And it is that, as we can read in The Verge, not even 1% of Netflix subscribers have yet tried any of the games included in their subscription. The study it is based on states that Netflix games average 1.7 million users per day, a small part of the 221 million Netflix subscribers worldwide. An indisputably low number, even considering that, at least for now, only games are offered for iOS and Android, not for PC or consoles.
And what are these low numbers due to? I believe that a determining factor has to do with the few titles includedCurrently in service. If Netflix manages to reach the end of 2022 with 50 games in its catalog, I have no doubt that the offer will be much more tempting and that, therefore, we will see the number of users grow. Now, I also think that the company has not promoted the service too much. Without going any further, and in a quick test, before starting to write this news I have spoken with two people with their own subscription to Netflix, and neither of them knew about the games.
However, Is this a marketing failure or a conscious and quite intelligent decision? I think, although I could be wrong, that it is the second option. Netflix could have hyped the games from day one, but in that case it would have done so with a rickety platform of content, suitable for debut and first tests, but which would have been disappointing to many. I think that, instead, the company has preferred to delay the “massive” promotion until the catalog is much more complete. In this way, when many of its users discover the service for the first time, its proposal will already be much more interesting.
