Netflix is transforming, again: the streaming service wants to compete with Google, PlayStation, NVIDIA and others

Netflix is looking to significantly expand the range of services it offers its customers. As it expands into the video game market and sees a significant drop in subscribers, the US giant is considering entering the cloud gaming, video game streaming market.

At the moment, there are several streaming platforms for games globally. The list includes PlayStation Now, GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna and more. To those services, it looks like Netflix will be attached, given several open positions on the official careers website. No doubt, in ads like the Senior Software Engineer one, there are references to “our cloud gaming service”.

Netflix gets serious about gaming

At the moment, Netflix’s gaming portfolio is already pretty thick, but it’s aimed exclusively at “casual” creations, more simplistic titles. It doesn’t compete with Call of Duty or FIFA. That might also be why, at least for the moment, those games haven’t attracted a significant number of users, and most Netflix subscribers have never heard they exist.

As a significant upgrade to Netflix’s branded gaming efforts, if AAA titles arrive on its gaming service, things could be much more optimistic for the American company. Not to say it’s not a great idea, but playing games on the same subscription you watch movies through is a great idea. It depends on what partnerships it will have behind it, with what studios, and especially how much compatibility it will have with the devices and smart TVs that offer access to the streaming platform at this point.

Unlike companies starting from scratch in cloud gaming, however, Netflix already has the advantage of a fabulous experience on the streaming side. That means its highly efficient compression algorithms could work wonders if translated into games.