Netflix Games is never going to be successful.
Netflix has been making headlines with some recent changes to their platform including fees for multiple IP's using one account. They also added a plan that's slightly cheaper and includes commercials. One thing you may not have heard about is the fact that they added games to their plans a few months ago. They have been losing record numbers of subscribers as of late due to rising prices in their plans and lack of value in the streaming service.
In a sad attempt to add value to their existing plans while jacking up the prices... They decided that the answer was to add a bunch of terrible mobile games to their portfolio of content. Look, don't get me wrong. I use Netflix almost daily, but I use someone else's account... I enjoy a lot of the content that is available on there and a lot of their Originals are actually decent. Regardless, I don't feel like I get enough value out of the platform to pay for a subscription.
In a shocking revelation, it turns out that less than 1% of their user base is playing their shitty mobile games. Hard to believe... I know. I almost shed a tear when I saw that they weren't getting a lot of traction with this... Not. It's really not surprising. When people log into Netflix, they're looking for something to watch or something to play for background noise. They're not on their iOS or Android phone looking for a game to play on Netflix.
I get that they are trying to add value to their plans to make users feel like they are getting their money's worth. This is just not the way to do that. I'd bet that 99% of subscribers either have no interest in playing mobile games or don't even know that they have access to them via their account. From a consumer standpoint, I just can't see the value in a bunch of mobile games on a movie/TV streaming platform. Not only does it not make sense, but there seems to be little to no effort put into advertising it.
If you're going to include games in every subscription, why not make that a selling point? Not just a bonus you might find out about one day if you're bored or reading articles on LeoFinance. There is no mention of this at all unless you go searching for it. There's also not a very big selection of games for as big as Netflix is, so if they're really leaning into this as they say... I hope they add more titles.
I'm not going to spend this whole article trash talking their decision to add games. Realistically it could be considered a great addition to the service, people just need to see the value. If existing users were to find out that they have access to a ton of cool games at no additional cost, it could help retention. I feel like the only notices I ever got from Netflix were that my price was increasing for no reason. I'd be ecstatic to get an email saying something to the tune of "Hey, we're sorry your price increase, but we've given you access to a suite of cool games included with your plan!".
Obviously this is still a very new addition, and if they're really serious about it... They need to get some game titles that people will actually recognize, not just a bunch of stupid random mobile games. Anyone can go on their app store and find tons of terrible games. Netflix, what I'm saying is... Do better. Make the games a focus, not an afterthought.
