Netflix just hired Mike Verdu, a veteran video game executive to the firm. This might be the sure-shot sign that the streaming platform will soon expand into another form of entertainment. Read to know what this new hire can mean for the streaming platform.
Video games on Netflix?
Mike Verdu is Netflix’s new vice president for the game development wing. The confirmation on Thursday gives a push to the service as millions of people around the world turned to Netflix as their primary form of entertainment during the multiple lockdowns. The streaming platform gained over 37 million subscribers in 2020, marking the largest annual gain in history. However, the easing of restrictions is slowly bringing back a sense of normality into people’s lives. This might change things for Netflix. Moreover, the firm stumbled down during the first quarter of the year. This is due to its smallest 1st quarter subscriber increase in the last four years.
Additionally, the introduction of video games to the platform might increase its subscriber count. And, it is not a huge surprise since Reed Hastings, the company’s co-CEO has said that the platform competes with other streaming services by Amazon, Disney, Apple, and Hulu, to name a few. Although the company did not directly confirm this. But, Verdu’s position at the company leaves little to the imagination.
Games and Videos, the perfect combination
According to a report by Tuna Amobi, a CFRA analyst, video games seem like a logical complement to the platform’s wide collection of films and TV series. This will eventually set the stage for a price increase that will be well accepted by its customers. “We’re trying to figure out what are all these different ways that we can increase those points of connection, we can deepen that fandom,” commented Greg Peter, the chief operating officer for Netflix.
After all, the addition of video games on Netflix will engage its subscribers into the TV series ad movies’ fandom. The big question is that, when Netflix starts offering video games, will it charge separately or include it will the video streaming service?