News about Netflix’s foray into the game streaming business has picked up over the last few days. A recent report by Bloomberg stated that the streaming giant has hired former EA and Facebook executive Mike Verdu, who previously represented Oculus, Medal of Honor, and the Command & Conquer series.
As reported by VGC, a new discovery by dataminer Steve Moser has revealed images of the PS5 DualSense controllers and artwork of Ghost of Tsushima in the app’s data. A logo for something called ‘N Games’ has also been found, suggesting that this will be the final name of the service. Additionally, Moser has also uncovered a logo of a shark fin and claims that the project’s working title is ‘Shark’.
Netflix’s gaming feature has a current working name of “Shark” and is represented by this image in their iOS app: a shark fin. Could an image of PS5 controllers and Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima (director’s cut coming Aug. 20th) indicate a partnership with $SONY? Cc @HedgeyeComm $NFLX pic.twitter.com/FLghlRlu20
— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) July 15, 2021
From the information uncovered in the datamine, it could be deduced that some kind of deal may have been struck with Sony, allowing the platform to stream first-party games. While Sony would ideally prefer that potential audiences use its PlayStation Now feature, this deal seems like a way to increase the reach of these games to audiences who may not own a PlayStation system.
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However, there has been no official information on just how this partnership will work. Only time will reveal the exact nature of this feature and what it has to offer. Netflix has been looking to enter the gaming industry for a while now, interactive shows like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch can be seen as the company dipping its toes into the industry.
The service is well aware that it could be losing out its market share to audiences that prefer gaming over watching something. In a 2019 shareholders letter, Netflix stated, “We earn consumer screen time, both mobile and television, away from a very broad set of competitors. We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO. There are thousands of competitors in this highly-fragmented market vying to entertain consumers."
Netflix has also doubled down on creating video game based movies and TV shows. The most recent one being Resident Evil Infinite Darkness, a show set in the RE universe featuring characters like Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. A trailer for Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild was also launched yesterday.
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