We reported earlier in the year that Netflix had big-brain ideas for the oft-overlooked gaming arm of its business, and here’s the bombshell: the streaming subscription will add all three entries from Rockstar’s remastered GTA Trilogy on 14th December. While not strictly PlayStation news in the purest sense, this is a potentially disruptive announcement for sure.
For those who don’t know, Netflix has offered mobile games as part of its iOS and Android apps for quite some time now, but this is its biggest addition yet. The latest versions of GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas will all be available to members at no extra cost, as the company looks to retain subscribers by tacking on attractive value adds.
While GTA is obviously a huge name, it’s perhaps worth noting that Netflix already has some other pretty major titles under its umbrella: Spiritfarer, Dead Cells, and Kentucky Route Zero to name but a few. And next year it’ll add critically acclaimed indies Hades and Death’s Door to its library. This is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on Sony for the time being, but it’s certainly something for the firm to keep an eye on.
Indeed, gaming has never been more competitive, with more and more entities looking to penetrate the lucrative market. All of this means PlayStation needs to be at the absolute top of its game, because entertainment time is finite, and it’s up against some very powerful rivals these days.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 29
I knew Netflix had games but I have no clue where to even find them lol
Not going to even try it though.
I wonder if Netflix will start doing its own exclusives at some point. They make their own shows, so it’s not a big leap for them to start making their own games.
@Bentleyma They are, yes. I believe they have Wednesday and Squid Game titles in production. They also hired the God of War art director.
Early 90's was probably more competitive but I suppose the money being thrown around was a whole lot less
@get2sammyb Don't forget Netflix also bought up some dev studios like Night School Games (Oxenfree series),too.
Given the mobile releases & porting of those efforts of Grove Street Games back to PS3,PS4 etc.,before the horrible rush job of "definitive edition remaster",feels appropriate it's getting a mobile streaming port!
Just a shame we'll never see a console port like some PC Modders put in AND get the FULL soundtracks to make a real definitive remastered edition from a penny pinching Take-two obsessed with GTA Online revenues from Rockstar.😕
Nope I prefer my discs I've gone off streaming notice lines are muted in scrubs il just watch it on my dvd boxset watch it with nothing cut 🤦 nope prefer dvd or Blu-ray rather than streaming.
@RawnDawn It's on the home page on mobile, generally towards the beginning. It has its own special horizontal tile collection
I've been holding off from playing the GTA trilogy for 20 years because there wasn't a decent way to play these games. Netflix has changed this and my wait is finally over.
@Czar_Khastik true story, bro 🤣
Seriously, though - can you use controllers on this, or (TV) remote control, mobile itself? Having tried to play games in the past on a mobile, I just can't get used to finicky controls that have no touch feeling.
@Slideaway1983 all the netflix games I've tried have used the phone touchscreen controls. There are a couple of decent games on there that actually lean into that and do a good job of touch controls (like Poinpy and Layas Horizon) and some point and click things like kentucky route zero or oxenfree 2 where touchscreen works pretty well. Most control like straight ass with the touchscreen though 🙈!! I think they were trialing a couple of games on TV but it's mainly phone ports I've tried. Not worth a subscription for games but if you've got it anyways, worth a look.
@R1spam cheers. I considered trying football manager, only to buy it on ps5 in the end! I will try and give one a go, maybe oxenfree 2, as I loved the first; and have kentucky route zero still in my backlog.
Useful info to consider though, so thanks. 👌
@Bentleyma @get2sammyb They already have made some of their Stranger Things mobile games exclusives, and more debatably you could argue Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is a game.
But I think your specific point wasn't that they are making their own games, but if they will be exclusive. They bought Night Dive Studios but made Oxenfree 2 cross platform. Only time will tell if they keep doing that or make them exclusive to Netflix.
Although I’m not a fan of mobile games, my Netflix subscription feels useless, so maybe I’ll try some of these games. Been meaning to try KR0 and OF2.
I rather see them make more decent series. They have quite a few nice one but more then enough garbage that makes me feel sick after watching it.
Grand theft auto and god of war.best video games franchises ever.word up son
I wish they’d just stick to tv and movies rather than pushing the price up for junk like this.
They need to let you download it on the console you're signed into. Why the ***** would I play a video game on my phone that wasn't designed for it
"... available to members at no extra cost, as the company looks to retain subscribers by tacking on attractive value adds"
But also Netflix to shareholders after raising prices last month - "As we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more”
Couldn't agree more with @Robinsad
Have these games been fixed?
I played Terra Nil from Netflix, on my iPhone. I believe it’s the first time I actually played a game consistently on a phone.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. Although using a phone for playing any games is a struggle for me personally.
Would I rather have played on my Mac? Yes, I would.
I might try something else, as I already pay for it. But it would be like 100 times more valuable if I could play these games on my computer or console. Like it is it doesn’t add a lot of value for me.
Cheers.
@Ev3X Oh wow, thanks for the information.
No wonder I never saw them.
@BeerIsAwesome Aaa okay, that makes sense, I thought it was hidden somewhere in the tv menu lol
Thanks for the info man, I appreciate it!
Can my phone run this?
It’s not “at no extra cost”.
Netflix has disproportionately increased the cost of their service over the last few years to give us consumers the illusion of it being at no extra cost.
The difference is major.
@themightyant Recall "playing" Bandersnatch when housesitting for family...harked back to the old Choose Your Own Adventure books I read in my youth but unlike even the spookiest entries of that series still had some sort of "good" ending!
Bandersnatch endings kept veering from depressing to bad to horrid!!😱😂
@Robocod Absolutely reminded me of choose your adventure books... which also kept veering off to bad endings in my experience. I gave up on them and just flicked to wherever I felt like in the end, creating my own story.
@themightyant Best reference i saw online was the "five finger save",which sums up some of the books well,eg: Mystery ar Chimney Rock or Horror at High Ridge quite well!😂 Also put the finger save to good use in the Fighting Fantasy & Sorcery!,books too! Good times!👍
@EMQZ Yes and no. They've fixed some of the worst of the issues but these remasters were based off worse versions of the game and they still aren't the "definitive" versions they pretend to be.
I feel that Netflix would be very well suited for Telltale games or the Wales Interactive FMV games.
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