When people say: “Netflix and Chill”, the first thing that jumps into my filthy little mind is sexy time. I’m sure it’s the same with all you reprobates out there. We have all laughed at the meme’s (I still call them meh-meh’s, shuddup) doing the rounds.
But, a new perspective on the term seems to be on the way.
Netflix has reportedly hired Oculus content VP, Mike Verdu, as VP of Game Development, according to Bloomberg.
Back in May, rumours were already flying when Netflix announced that it was “excited to do more interactive entertainment”. Well, it seems that they are getting into the game development….errrr… game. Yes, Yes I know. Game, game…whatever.
What it is that they are going to try is still unclear, but it’s worth mentioning that Amazon and Google have evidently been struggling with the business, with Amazon not releasing anything worthwhile, and Google shutting down its Stadia studios before they made anything at all. I guess Jeff Bezos is too busy being the richest guy on the planet, and mistreating employees, while also competing with Elon Musk to do the spacey space thing (space nerd HvR can tell us more about that kettle of fish).
Netflix has shown a general interest in the gaming world already. Think The Witcher series, where they actually teamed up with CDPR to put WitcherCon together the other day to bolster the Netflix Original series. There is also Castlevania, the Dota series of which another season is coming, and a League of Legends series, live action Assassin’s Creed show, as well as a Far Cry anime in the works.
So what are your thoughts about all this? Methinks…err…I don’t know really. If they get a foothold, they might surprise us.
Mouth off in the comments as usual. I’m going home to go…errrr….chill…alone. *sad Kaas noises*
Last Updated: July 16, 2021
KzA
July 19, 2021 at 03:26
I don’t think it will work with AAA games, as you mentioned Stadia already tanked and it doesn’t seem like the NVIDIA cloud gaming thing has much momentum. Might work with smaller more independent games that don’t need oodles of resources to run, but I doubt it.
MonsterCheddar
July 19, 2021 at 05:01
Yeah…its a rough market to get into. Gamers generally trust what they know, so it will be a long hard road for them.
Personally, I don’t see it happening.
Lu
July 20, 2021 at 01:15
Totally agree. Device compatibility alone is going to be a major issue.
I can use my Steam controller on my TV with the Steam Link app, but I don’t see that happening with your dodgier and more prolific android top boxes.
Unless they end up doing stuff like those basic games you could play on the DSTV decoder with the remote back in the day.