Netflix to expand into cloud gaming, opens new studio in Southern California

techcrunch.com:

At TechCrunch Disrupt, Netflix VP of Gaming Mike Verdu dropped two bits of news about the streaming giant’s foray into games. Verdu said that Netflix is “seriously exploring a cloud gaming offering.” The company will also open a new gaming studio in Southern California.

“It’s a value add. We’re not asking you to subscribe as a console replacement,” Verdu said on stage. “It’s a completely different business model. The hope is over time that it just becomes this very natural way to play games where wherever you are.”

Google’s Stadia and Amazon’s Luna have made the same play, attempting to peddle video games that people can play even if they don’t have an expensive gaming computer or coveted console. But these services have struggled to attain mainstream user adoption. Google recently said that it will shut down Stadia in January.

“While Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” Stadia VP and GM Phil Harrison wrote in a blog post.

Verdu thinks these products struggled due to their business models, not the technology itself.

Mike Verdu, VP of Games at Netflix speaks about “whether game streaming can go mainstream” at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 18, 2022. Image Credit: Haje Kamps / TechCrunch

“Stadia was a technical success. It was fun to play games on Stadia,” Verdu said. “It had some issues with the business model, sure.”

Both Stadia and Luna have dedicated controllers — but Verdu was reticent to say whether or not we can expect a Netflix gaming controller in the future.

He did reveal, though, that Netflix is