netflix Bets on Interactivity Beyond Gaming, Plans Expanded Real-Time Features
LOS ANGELES – Netflix is strategically expanding beyond traditional streaming into interactive entertainment, viewing it as a key driver of engagement and retention, the company revealed this week. While initially framed through the lens of gaming, Netflix executives now emphasize a broader vision of ”interactivity broadly” and its potential to complement linear storytelling.
Netflix is already testing real-time voting features in live streams wiht Dinner Time Live With David Chang and plans to implement them in the January revival of Star search. “We expect to provide other interactive features to deepen engagement with live events as we go in the future,” said Netflix’s VP of Games, Mike Peters.
The company is also shifting its gaming strategy to prioritize multiplayer party games accessible directly through the Netflix app, playable on televisions using smartphones as controllers. “It’s just like our series and films. You scroll to the games tab, you pick whatever you want, click it, and you’re in. You don’t need a special controller – that’s key to this access,” Peters explained.
Netflix anticipates creators will leverage the ubiquitous smartphone as a powerful interactive tool. The company is together investing in games based on its original franchises, titles for children, and mainstream games like Grand Theft Auto: The trilogy – The Definitive Edition.
According to Peters,this approach aims to “not only extend the audience’s engagement with a story,but it creates a synergy that reinforces both mediums,the interactive and the non-interactive side.” Netflix intends to “ramp our investment in this area judiciously,” signaling a measured but committed expansion into interactive experiences.
