Report: Netflix Mobile Games Attract Less than 1% of Subscribers, Despite Heavy Investment
Netflix has had its share of struggles this year. The streaming giant lost 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2022, and has been making major strategic adjustments in hopes of rebounding for most of the year.
One of the areas in which the company has been banking on seeing growth is in its expanding library of mobile games. The platform has added games from some of its most popular IPs, including “Stranger Things” and “The Queen's Gambit.”
To their credit, Netflix has been attempting various strategies to get subscribers playing. The company is developing both a mobile game and an animated series based on the popular card game “Exploding Kittens,” while also releasing a first-person shooter for the first time with “Into the Dead 2: Unleashed.”
Despite these efforts, the numbers for Netflix’s games have been lackluster so far. According to a report by CNBC, Netflix’s games see an average of 1.7 million daily users, or less than one percent of the total subscriber base of 221 million.
These numbers have not dissuaded the company from expanding its offerings, however. Netflix plans to more than double its catalog of mobile games from 24 to 50 by the end of 2022, signifying a significant investment in the space
Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters sees more games developed on popular franchises as the key, explaining, “I would say the eyes that we have on the long-term prize really center more around our ability to create properties that are connected to the universes, the characters, the stories that we’re building.”
Customers who subscribe to Netflix have access to all of its games via the mobile app for free, with no additional in-app purchases. The games are included in the price of a Netflix subscription, but the games themselves have to be downloaded via the app.
In its efforts to increase consumers’ engagement with its service, Netflix is venturing into new territory with mobile games. While it is still early days for the project, if the streamer is able to find compelling synergies between its series and movies and its games, it could continue to build a platform that is indispensable for for younger generations.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.