Netflix is testing game streaming on TVs and computers
Netflix has announced that it has begun testing games on TVs and computers. The streaming service, which is renowned for movies and TV shows, will now let you stream video games to your PC or television screen.
Netflix's strategy has evolved aggressively over the past year, with the password sharing crackdown and the introduction of ad-supported plans. The streaming service has become pricier, but some people would view games as a value add-on, since they can play them for free (included in the cost of the subscription).
Netflix began offering mobile games for its subscribers in November 2021, and slowly picked up the pace to expand its library over time. The service has over 50 exclusive games in its lineup, with more in development. Up until now, the games were only available for 2 platforms: Android and iOS.
The Los Gatos company is changing that, it is bringing its games to TVs and computers. The game streaming service is still in an early phase, and the current beta test only comprises 2 games. The first one is Oxenfree, created by Night School Studio, it is now a Netflix Game Studio after being acquired by the company in 2021. The second game that is available for big screens is a gem-mining arcade game called Molehew’s Mining Adventure. The announcement on the company's website says that the games are available on a limited basis for users in Canada and the UK.
Netflix will soon let you stream games on TVs and desktop browsers
Users on PC and Mac will be able to play games that are available on Netflix from the browser of their choice. All you need to do is log on to Netflix.com. The games support mouse and keyboard controls, so you can play them just like a regular game. The catch here is that browser support for the games will roll out in the coming weeks, while the TV versions of the games are available from today.
But how would you play Netflix games on TV? That will be possible via the new Netflix game controller app that was released out of the blue, for iOS and iPadOS last week. You can download it from the App Store for free. Android users have not been left behind, The Verge quotes a spokesperson from Netflix, who said that users will be able to use the existing Netflix app on their Android smartphone, as a controller to play games on TVs and computers.
Netflix has published a list of TVs that are compatible with its gaming service. These include Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart ONN. The company will add support for more devices in the future.
As 9to5Mac points out, Apple TV is a notable absentee from the list. But, Netflix can't be blamed for this issue, that's because Apple forbids cloud gaming services from its App Store, as it doesn't want other platforms to cash in, another reason why the walled garden must go. This might explain why Netflix had to release a special game controller app, which users can use with their Android TVs.
Google may have failed badly with Stadia, but Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA's GeForce NOW have proven to be quite popular. Can Netflix's cloud gaming service achieve the same level of success? Only time will answer that question.
Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.