Netflix reportedly plans to offer video games on its streaming platform "within the next year"
As major gaming companies make the move towards cloud gaming, it seems like Netflix will soon follow suit; or at least offer games in some way. According to a recent Bloomberg report citing "a person familiar with the situation", the streaming giant plans to offer video games within the next year. "The games will appear alongside current fare as a new programming genre -- similar to what Netflix did with documentaries or stand-up specials," reads the report. "The company doesn’t currently plan to charge extra for the content."
To forge ahead its video game industry ambitions, the report mentions how Netflix announced on Wednesday that Mike Verdu will join as vice president of game development. Verdu previously worked with Electronic Arts on mobile titles like Sims, Plants vs. Zombies and Star Wars. He also worked as chief creative officer for Zynga as well as served as Facebook’s vice president responsible to work with developers on bringing games and content to its Oculus VR headsets.
It is not clear whether Netflix will offer cloud-based gaming like Google Stadia or offer them to download for a monthly subscription fee on compatible systems. But given Netflix's availability across platforms, it's likely to follow a Stadia model and be the actual Netflix of games. In any case, these news have to be taken with a pinch of salt as Bloomberg's source asked not to be identified "because the deliberations are private".
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