Netflix, the biggest premium streaming service for movies and TV shows, is starting to expand its streaming ambitions to include video games. Today, the company confirmed it has started a limited beta test of its game streaming platform for select Netflix subscribers in Canada and the UK.
In a blog post, Netflix stated that two games will be available for those beta testers: Oxenfree and Molehew’s Mining Adventure. Testers in those parts of the world will be able to play those games on their smart TVs by using their smartphones as the controller.
Initially, these will be the smart TVs and streaming TV devices that will support Netflix game streaming:
- Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players
- Chromecast with Google TV
- LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV
- Roku devices and TVs
- Samsung Smart TVs
- Walmart ONN
Netflix says more smart TVs and devices will be added in the future. In addition, the beta test will expand to include Windows and Macs, via supported web browsers on Netflix.com, with keyboard and mouse control support.
The blog post added:
By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world. While we’re still very early in our games journey, we’re excited to bring joy to members with games. We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead.
Netflix is entering the cloud game streaming field that"s already been available by a number of tech heavy hitters. That includes Microsoft"s with its Xbox cloud gaming feature for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, NVIDIA"s GeForce Now service, Amazon"s Luna service, and Sony, which has just started streaming PS5 games in its own limited beta.
Netflix has been trying to expand into the game industry for some time. It offers a number of mobile games for no additional cost to Netflix subscribers. However, third-party data seems to indicate that so far, very few Netflix users play those games.