In a recent blog post, Netflix’s Vice President of Games, Mike Verdu, announced its plan to test games on specific TVs and computers, expanding their reach beyond current devices.
Netflix is initiating a beta test for a limited group in Canada and the UK, starting with certain TVs from Monday. The test will soon extend to PCs and Macs via supported web browsers on Netflix.com in the upcoming weeks.
Having ventured into gaming in November 2021 with games for mobile devices, Netflix’s game titles have, until now, been limited to Apple’s iOS and Android platforms.
The first games to be tested include “Oxenfree” by Night School Studio, a subsidiary of Netflix, and “Molehew’s Mining Adventure”, an arcade-style gem mining game. Players can enjoy the games on their TVs using mobile controls, while those on PCs and Macs can play using a standard keyboard and mouse.
Verdu expressed the company’s intent: “We aim to simplify the gaming experience for our global audience by making our games available on a broader range of devices.”
Furthermore, Netflix disclosed that its TV games would be compatible with select devices, including Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, and Roku devices.
Earlier in March, Netflix revealed an ambitious plan of rolling out 40 additional games later this year, with 70 others collaborating with partners. This is over and above the 16 games currently in the pipeline from its internal game studios.