By Movieguide® Contributor
Alain Tascan, the current president of Netflix Games, explained how he has shifted the company’s video game strategy to narrow its focus and allow its games to connect with a core audience.
When Netflix first launched its games studio in late 2021, the platform largely consisted of popular indie games that Netflix moved to mobile after acquiring the rights. While it quickly grew its library to dozens of unique, high-quality games, it failed to garner a sizable audience. In the years since, Netflix has adjusted its strategy, narrowing its scope while focusing on games that its audience has a reason to connect with.
Tascan, a former executive at Fortnite’s parent company Epic Games, took over as the president of Netflix Games last year and has already made a sizable shift at the company. Netflix Games now has four categories of the games: narrative game, party games, kids games, or mainstream games.
“We started with those [categories]. Down the road, we might add more it it makes sense, but I think starting from these four is already a lot,” Tascan told The Verge.
Each of these categories allows Netflix to focus on a specific audience, while also focusing on wider goals. For example, Netflix views its games catalog as a way to further expand on the stories of popular IP. For example, Netflix believed in its Chris Pratt and Millie Bobby Brown-led apocalyptic movie THE ELECTRIC STATE so much that it released a video game prequel a week after the movie launched. This prequel expanded upon relationships introduced in the movie, fleshing out the story.
“The game is able to explore that relationship in more depth,” explained director Anthony Russo.
Another secondary goal of Netflix’s gaming platform is to introduce games that can be played from any platform. Currently, all of the games are only available on mobile, but the company is pursuing a future where its games are available on TVs and desktops as well.
This pursuit largely comes from Tascan who has seen the success Fortnite has found by being accessible across all devices — and cross-play compatible, meaning players on mobile can play with their friends playing on PC or console.
Related: Chris Pratt-Led Movie Gets Netflix Video Game as Streamer Builds Gaming Platform
“Being accessible instantaneously on any screen is the ultimate goal,” Tascan said. “I’m coming from a world where I’ve seen success by taking walls down. Fortnite was one of the first games to really do cross-play, and I feel like that was one of the big reasons for its success.”
As Netflix refocuses its gaming leg, however, it has dismantled some endeavors that made certain gamers excited. For example, last year, the company shut down its studio focus on creating high-budget games before it released a single title. The platform is also shifting away from bringing on indie games, though it will continue to acquire certain titles that independently fit into its content strategy.
Nonetheless, these changes are for the best, and offer the streamer the best path forward to become to gaming what it already is for movies and TV.
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