Netflix is apparently expanding into videogames and it is looking to hire an executive to oversee its expansion into videogames, according to a source. The company is trying to ramp up efforts to grow beyond its traditional business as streaming competition intensifies according to The Information.
The information on the move comes at a time when the video gaming industry is booming from a surge in demand from gamers staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The streaming giant has approached multiple gaming executives in the past month, the sources told the publication. Netflix has not decided yet whether it will make its own gaming content or license it from third-party publishers or some mixture of the two strategies, The Information reported.
Netflix has experimented with interactive programming in the past with movies such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and You vs. Wild that enabled viewers to decide the characters’ moves. It has also created games based on shows like Stranger Things and La casa de Papel (Money Heist). But, now it seems like the company is looking to push further into the increasingly lucrative gaming market.
While the details of the company’s games strategy are still very much in flux, it has been decided that the games will not feature advertising, the report said.