99 Percent of Netflix Subscribers Haven't Tried Its Games Yet (theverge.com) 103
As Netflix continues to build out its portfolio of games, the streamer's seeing less than 1 percent of its subscribers interact with them on a daily basis. From a report: According to data obtained by CNBC from app tracking group Apptopia, Netflix's games average 1.7 million users per day, a sliver of Netflix's 221 million subscribers globally. Apptopia found that Netflix's games have been downloaded a total of 23.3 million times since Netflix announced a push into mobile gaming in November 2021. The streamer started with just five games, a collection that it has since expanded to over two dozen titles, including a game based on the Exploding Kittens card game, the League of Legends spinoff Hextech Mayhem, and the strategy title Into the Breach. Netflix also plans on adding a game based on its original series The Queen's Gambit.
Netflix has games? (Score:5, Insightful)
First I've heard of it, and we've had a subscription for years.
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Yea me too. I think this falls down to Netflix poor marketing. Will it work with my Apple TV? or the Netflix on my Smart TV or will I need a gaming system to access it?
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This. Games on Netflix? Where? How?
I "played" that Black Mirror interactive movie spinoff. Was kinda cool. But I'm guessing they're talking about different sorts of games.
Re:Netflix has games? (Score:5, Informative)
Looks like it's Netflix published games to Android and iOS app stores:
https://help.netflix.com/en/no... [netflix.com]
The practical implication for players would be mobile games without ads with pricing included in the streaming subscription.
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The practical implication for players would be mobile games without ads with pricing included in the streaming subscription.
Now if only you get rid of the "mobile games" part you may have a compelling product. Well at least having nothing is more compelling than playing a mobile game.
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Frankly, I agree. To have a 'subscription fee' for a library of games that is actually played locally, rather than the way the other players are trying to 'stream' the games, might not be bad..
But mobile games.... Huge meh from me.
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My first thoughts too...games on Netflix?
ON the other hand, these days I'm also starting to think "Worthwhile programming" on Netflix? Really? Where? How?
Re:Netflix has games? (Score:5, Insightful)
First I've heard of it, and we've had a subscription for years.
This. And reasons for lack of success become rather obvious when your own customers don't even know what's failing.
They run their own production studio, but somehow can't grasp Marketing 101? Pretty bad. Even for Netflix.
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I think it's been pretty clear that Netflix hasn't quite grasped even how to run a Hollywood production studio so far. They definitely have some hits but overall their strategy is pretty scattershot, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
Compared to "legacy" studios like WB, HBO, Disney and the like I think they are still learning in all honesty.
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I actually appreciate the scattershot approach. It's certainly produced more interesting and compelling content than the "we have tweaked the algorithm and know exactly what sells. Yesterday show with a different name and cast" bullshit that most of the "legacy" studios are cranking out.
Disney+
Because you watched Inside out: "Riley's First Date", "Inside Out 2"
Because you watched Starwars episode something or other: "Starwars: Random character from the law we made a series about."
Or why not watch Ms Marvel,
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Hollywood is split into the part that is also scattershot but inept at it, and the part focused on an endless stream of sequels but inept at it. So as soon as Netflix gets the endless sequence of sequels obsession, then it'll be just as good as Hollywood.
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To be honest the rest of Hollywood isn't doing much better, throwing sequel after remake at a shit-stained wall and hoping something might stick just long enough to justify yet another one.
Originality is as dead as attention spans.
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See I agree but the thing with that is... it seems to keep working, but in that case we the audience have to accept some responsibility.
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See I agree but the thing with that is... it seems to keep working, but in that case we the audience have to accept some responsibility.
Stupid and Ignorant can't fail today, so "we" has turned into something I don't even remotely recognize. I'm only reminded of it when I try and watch a Netflix Original production.
Re:Netflix has games? (Score:4, Interesting)
First I've heard of it, and we've had a subscription for years.
Indeed. Fire up the Roku, start Netflix and it will be pushing some tiresome action movie. No mention of games.
Netflix killed TV. I'm not watching OTA TV any more, I expect the programming to be available to watch. So I used Netflix for a long time. Then they removed all the good (to me) movies and the streaming supply got fractured. I'm not willing to play the 'many subscriptions' game. Solution, don't watch TV.
So Netflix can be commended for getting me out of a TV watching habit.
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I'm not willing to play the 'many subscriptions' game.
The trick is to sign up for one, binge watch everything on it, cancel the subscription.
Sign up for a different one, binge watch everything on it, cancel the subscription.
Rinse, repeat.
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:2)
The trick is to go to serieshd.watch and watch anything you want.
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The trick is to sign up for one, binge watch everything on it, cancel the subscription.
I like Netflix's practice of releasing an entire season at once, so I keep my subscription going even when I don't watch for months at at time.
I hate, with the burning intensity of a thousand suns, Disney+'s practice of releasing one episode every week, so I just canceled my subscription. I'll resubscribe in a year (maybe longer) after the next round of the shows I like have the entire season online. Then I'll binge-watch and cancel again.
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:2)
This is exactly why Netflix releases all of them at once. They know people prefer to binge watch, and so people will cancel and only subscribe once the entire season is available. They've publicly stated as such.
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:2)
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I hate, with the burning intensity of a thousand suns, Disney+'s practice of releasing one episode every week
Yep. It's hard to believe they'd do that in 2022.
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Yup, I used to do the one month free of Amazon, every couple of years. But I think they caught on because they last time they did this, the only things worth watching on Amazon required aan additional premium payment above the subscription. Mostly I haven't been watching a lot of streaming, except for random youtube, but after the drop of some new seasons I'm watching again. But not binging, one episode of something a day. Some day, maybe in the distant future, I'll see the years of Doctor Who that I mi
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The good movies got removed because almost all were owned by Starz and they terminated their licensing deal. The other moves vanished because everyone and their mother decided to have their own streaming service. That lack of content is what encouraged Netflix to start producing their own content. Netflix is still the best deal out there I think (except to Amazon Prime cult members who can't shut up about how their service pays for itself).
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>except to Amazon Prime cult members who can't shut up about how their service pays for itself
It doesn't pay for itself, but it certainly pays for the shipping.
Prime is second in line to find a movie after netflix. Step 1) look on netflix because if it's there it's not going to cost any more money. Step 2) Look on Prime Video. Step 3) if all else fails, google it.
Prime usually has it. Netflix usually does not. But the sample space is not large. I've watched a total of 1 movie this year and we are more th
Re:Netflix has games? (Score:5, Funny)
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I get all my Netflix gaming news from Commander Taco and Cowboy Neal, so it's their fault I'm only just now hearing about this.
Who are they?
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I get all my Netflix gaming news from Commander Taco and Cowboy Neal, so it's their fault I'm only just now hearing about this.
Who are they?
This is how we know you really are "Really New Here"... they were the main figures on Slashdot int the 90s and early 2000s. The polls would often have "Commander Taco ___" as a silly response.
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And if you ARE in the know, then you are really old at this point. /. was actually "news for nerds" at one point. You had to be a sufficiently old enough nerd to care (20's or so). So now you are in your 40's or 50's if you still remember the /. heyday of the 90's.
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So now you are in your 40's or 50's if you still remember the /. heyday of the 90's.
Well... I get AARP ads in my mail and I recently scheduled my shingles vaccine!
I remember, shortly after joining, seeing one of the April 1 articles about building a way to put a monitor (still tube) on top of a photocopier to use the setup as a printer. I also got a Q-Cat reader at one point to hack into a general purpose scanner!
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It's a really weird food truck. The food is great, and unique, but you never know where or when it's going to show up next.
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"We are the everything of everything!!! And we do each small job very poorly!"
This is why Netflix shouldn't try to get into gaming. If they want to give some discount for a login on the best gaming already out there, I say: "Eh." But trying to outright compete is silly.
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Original content production seems like more of a stretch, but I can see why they felt forced into it. Distribution is too easily replicated.
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These are mobile games, not the greatest. However, I found the "Stranger Things" game pretty good; 8 bit pixelated Zelda-like thingie, but that was out years ago. In general though, don't get too excited about it.
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:2)
For me... In New Zealand... On my android phone.. The games have been advertised In-app... On the main page just like all the other categories of film and TV.. You know TV comedies, action, romance, play mobile games..
Been pretty hard to miss, at least on my phone..
Maybe, the old UI design adage of 'people don't read' is true....
But the games are a bit old school... In that one downloads them and plays... No ads, No in game purchases, no videos to have to watch...
The mini put game is wonderful,...
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Why do you watch Netflix on your phone? Tiny screen, etc.
Do you not have a a real TV to watch..?
Well, maybe I read this wrong...thinking about it, I do take my iPad out when flying..so that I can watch something mobile, but it isn't something I'd do very often, just when traveling, or maybe
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:1)
Hmmm...
I use my the app on my phone select content..
Then I Cast it to a chromecast, which is plugged into a TV..
I can then use the phone app to pause, rewind and control captioning..
Which might be easier than lugging a laptop around my lounge...
But, I forget if I use it to control the sound... I think the surround sound system takes over at some point...
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Thanks for the info..I'll have to look up chrome cast, I"m guessing it is a streaming device.
I've just used Amazon FireTV units (not usb sticks) in the past and now AppleTV 4K's...so, I just use the remotes for them to navigate.
Re: Netflix has games? (Score:2)
Me too, never heard of it. That's probably they're problem.
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Same. This is literately the first I've heard of it. The fact that the games are "mobile games" is probably why, because mobile games are generally low-effort, wallet-pinching, lowest-tier content. If I'm going to waste 2 hours of a day, I'd rather watch a movie on Netflix than spend 2 hours being blackmailed by a mobile app to pay for coins or whathaveyou.
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It's probably only on mobile, not on the TV (smart tv, roku, firestick, etc). And you sort of have to say "mobile games" instead of "games" to avoid confusions. The mobile games are really very basic compared to computer and video games, and aren't all that impressive.
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Games? What games? (Score:5, Insightful)
As a regular Netflix user, I had no idea that Netflix had games until seeing this story.
(And even then I'm not going to bother going looking - I don't think to use Netflix for gaming, I use it to watch programs)
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Also a Netflix user, and have been since before streaming was a thing. The only way I knew Netflix had games was the announcement, literal years ago, on Slashdot that they were releasing their first game. Never have I seen sign one of any of these games either on the platform, nor on any client for the platform I've accessed.
And their CEO is apparently convinced that gaming and "interactive experiences" will be the future? Not if you can't get more than one percent of all users interested enough to hit the
Re:Games? What games? (Score:5, Informative)
After I went digging slightly, it's not that Netflix provides a gaming service, it's that they are publishing iphone/android games.
They have a couple dozen, some with tie-ins to things like Stranger Things.
Basically, not particularly exciting looking, but ad-free and funded through your subscription.
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Netflix has games? (Score:1)
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None are really new, they purchased a bunch of old titles. Some I had already played and completed years ago.
Townsmen is a relaunch from a decade ago. It was fun and I don't like some of the updated interface changes, but the core mechanic I enjoyed is still there. I played all the old scenarios and wasted way too much time on sprawling cities around 2016-2018, and I'm replaying it now. They at least had the decency to make it a new, unique purchase in the store. I still have my old account with many tho
Hidden gem (Score:2)
Netflix also plans on adding a game based on its original series The Queen’s Gambit.
IDK, why should we trust Netflix if it has taken them this long to make a Chess app.
There is a bunch of those. I think I played one on my old Win 95 computer.
Re:Hidden gem (Score:4, Funny)
But is there a chess game with Ana Taylor-Joy staring back at you from across the table?
Maybe you also have to deal with substance abuse issues between games, the possibilities are endless!
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Maybe to look completely natural, but pay her a bunch of money to sit in front of a camera and do some emotes.
IMO, I would find this game disappointing though, unless there is some kinda adult mode toggle I could enable.
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Strip chess?
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The larger issue would be the engine's very limited opening book. :)
Wrong games maybe? (Score:2)
Filled with easy to get into, and play casual games. Trivia games should be its bread and butter.
I don't anything about Hextech Mayhem, but from the screenshots, it doesn't appear to be like that.
Into The Breach definitely isn't.
It would help if I saw a list of games.
3 things... (Score:4, Interesting)
1) They became too expensive, so I quit my subscription after 7 years.
2) They never told me about netflix games, even when it was announced in newspapers I never could figure out where to "get" the games, I assume that goes for 99% of the netflix users too, they just don't have good experience like Steam or Prime.
3) I don't like paying extra for services I don't use. And they charge extra for things that is the "norm" on all the other streaming services, plus they're quite horrible when it comes to local licensing, for example. I want the U.S. version of the series "Shameless" but since I'm in europe I'm forced to watch the "impossible to understand cockney speaking version of it called Shameless UK", that's a no-go since I'm not very "Brit" fan when it comes to the way of making movies or series, comedy they do very well though.
And their local licensing makes the number of movies available 10x less than in America (yes, sure we COULD use VPN, but they've clamped down on that too so they're actively enforcing VPN bans and it's against their TOS etc.) So bye bye Netflix.
Disney + and Amazon prime went the other way with pricing and have a better choice of series too plus tons of movies, Prime lowered their price for me after a few months, Netflix went in the opposite direction and as high as 20$ per month, Prime is 5$ and Disney plus 9$ for me (and they have Dolby and 4K as standard).
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I can't answer to content issues, but don't forget that streaming is all that Netflix does.
Disney and Amazon have other sources of revenue to keep their subscription prices low.
I don't even think Disney+ alone is even profitable yet.
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1) They became too expensive, so I quit my subscription after 7 years.
2) They never told me about netflix games, even when it was announced in newspapers I never could figure out where to "get" the games, I assume that goes for 99% of the netflix users too, they just don't have good experience like Steam or Prime.
3) I don't like paying extra for services I don't use. And they charge extra for things that is the "norm" on all the other streaming services, plus they're quite horrible when it comes to local licensing, for example. I want the U.S. version of the series "Shameless" but since I'm in europe I'm forced to watch the "impossible to understand cockney speaking version of it called Shameless UK", that's a no-go since I'm not very "Brit" fan when it comes to the way of making movies or series, comedy they do very well though.
And their local licensing makes the number of movies available 10x less than in America (yes, sure we COULD use VPN, but they've clamped down on that too so they're actively enforcing VPN bans and it's against their TOS etc.) So bye bye Netflix.
Disney + and Amazon prime went the other way with pricing and have a better choice of series too plus tons of movies, Prime lowered their price for me after a few months, Netflix went in the opposite direction and as high as 20$ per month, Prime is 5$ and Disney plus 9$ for me (and they have Dolby and 4K as standard).
4. They lost lots of content and were no longer the one stop for all the old tv series I never got around to watching. Once those got broken into other services, it wasn't worth the hassle of multiple streaming services.
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Wait, Prime has games? All kinds of new revelations going on in this article thread.
I am up to my armpits in free games... (Score:2)
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How many actually free games are there out there? I can't even buy an official Tetris game that doesn't try to constantly up sell me, and the "free" ones I see are even worse. Frankly, the only game I ever play on my phone, or really at all, is Minecraft, which is my sort of pressure release game that allows me to clear my mind. I have a console version of Tetris I play on my Macbook sometimes, and largely for the same reason. The video game industry seems to be built these days for people with attention de
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Re: I am up to my armpits in free games... (Score:2)
Which of those As stands for 'antique'?
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That depends on your definition of 'antique'.
In the 90s, it meant, just a few years ago. Today, I'd regard many 15-18 year old games as not antique.
Anyway, this was June
Iratus: Lord of the Dead - 2019
Hood: Outlaws and Legends - 2021
Geneforge 1 - 2021 remake
Car Mechanic Simulator - 2018
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game - 2020
Fall Guys - 2020
Supraland - 2022
Maneater - 2020
Wolfenstein: The New Order - 2014
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When I remember I grab the epic free games, I've even played some of them.
My system is an antique, so it matches those games :)
Handing out the old games is a great advertising strategy... I guess. I wonder what it costs them to support them?
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Same here, but I grab all of them because I find grabbing them to be fun. I played a handful and didn't complete one. This is the usual story with Epic accounts from what I hear.
My system is 'antique' in performance too, but it does everything I need just fine and runs 99% of my game library at 1080p on High and that's adequate for me for now.
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Me too. My only real problem now is many new games require DX12, and I'm running Windows 8.1 which is the hardest OS to get DX12 working on. Supposedly it will work if you disable a major component which is responsible for drawing metro apps including the login screen, because that's where Microsoft put the checks designed to prevent you from running it. There are zero technical reasons why DX12 won't work on Vista or later, but Microsoft wanted to force us all to run their Windows 10 spyware.
Apparently Cro [codeweavers.com]
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My machine is a somewhat old, budget 'gaming laptop' that came with Windows 10 (I restricted telemetry the best I can) that I use as a Desktop. I was on Wine on Linux before I got this machine. I will go back to Linux on this machine when support ends.
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I run Ubuntu and do most stuff there. I'm not even logging into Google any more on Windows, just Slashdot, reddit, etc. I'm mostly in Windows for games with troublesome DRM.
I am actually enjoying Win8.1 (as mostly a games console) now that I've finally got it working with all the usual crap. The performance is very good. I just wish I could have DX12 on it without changing anything else. My HP Ryzen 3 laptop came with Win10, and I wiped it and put Mint on it right away. It only has 3 GPU cores though, so it
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I don't type personal queries into Google anymore, just technical and academic ones. Almost all the apps I need are now cross platform. The sad thing is, if I get a new machine with much better performance eventually, I would find it to be a shame to not take advantage of the horse power for Windows Games. Gaming is the only thing that keeps me on Windows and I don't even game that much anymore. I was entirely on Linux a few years ago. I could not get a lot working on Wine. I wasn't using a CrossOver though
into the breach (Score:2)
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Into the Breach is only available on mobile via Netflix. If you're already a Netflix subscriber then it's a fun addition. If not, then I don't think it's worth paying monthly to play Into the Breach, even if it is one of the best games available on iOS right now.
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Agreed, but there's a bunch of interest in it, so it's a market that has proven worth catering to... To some extent...
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1.6 million (Score:2)
of those users are bots.
How about no games but lower subscription? (Score:3)
I do not care about games so make it an optional item like DVDs and lower the subscription.
Bogus headlines (Score:5, Insightful)
headline:
99 Percent of Netflix Subscribers Haven't Tried Its Games Yet
summary:
Each day, about 1% of users play Netflix games THAT DAY. Which means probably around 3%-5% play them with some regularity. Perhaps two or three times that many tried it and don't play regularly.
Why would you? (Score:2)
Here's why: (Score:2)
Netflix announced a push into mobile gaming
I doubt many people watch netflix on their phone or even care that they have games.
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Note that they are trying to give mobile games with no link to their video watching.
I may agree on the not caring about the games, but it's not really that linked into their video product at all, apart from product tie-ins for some of them.
Not surprising (Score:1)
Different sort of customer. (Score:2)
People that enjoy movies are likely spending most of their leisure time watching Netflix, those interested in games will spend the bulk of their leisure time on steam, Xbox, PSN etc playing their preferred games, not some also ran game on a movie platform.
Can you blame them (Score:1)
Basic Games (Score:1)
Netflix: Support AppleTV (Score:2)
If Netflix wants to see higher gam adoption, they need to support the AppleTV for these things which does have a controller you can use for games, and an ability to pair with real controllers.
Of course that would mean doing any work on AppleTV at all, which looks to be unlikely based on total lack of support of even the interactive shows on AppleTV.
I guess Netflix just hates money, a fact investors are now responding to.
Games? (Score:2)
I've been a subscriber of Netflix for around 20 years. These days, I get it free with my phone service. This is the first I've heard of anything to do with games.
Maybe that's why people aren't using it: They haven't heard of it.
The other reason could be, of course, that's it's awful. But I can't speak to that.
a lack of compelling content is why (Score:2)
Arcanium: Rise of Akhan
Asphalt Xtreme
Before Your Eyes
Bowling Ballers
Card Blast
Dominoes Café
Dungeon Dwarves
Dragon Up
Exploding Kittens
Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story
Into the Breach
Into the Dead 2: Unleashed
Knittens
Krispee Street
Mahjong Solitaire
Moonlighter
Poinpy
Relic Hunters: Rebels
Shatter Remastered
Shooting Hoops
Stranger Things: 1984
Stranger Things 3: The Game
Teeter (Up)
This is a True Story
Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt
Wonderputt Forever
Not a single
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Never heard of it and now that I have... (Score:2)
...they're all "mobile games" which are the worst kind of game. No thanks. Spend more money on hiring good script writers, please, Netflix.
Can I get a "no game discount?" (Score:2)
Frankly, I don't give a shit about games. I'd like to have mine disabled for a discounted Netflix subscription price.
It might be because the games suck. (Score:2)
Today I found out that I'm the 1% of people who have actually interacted with their games, and I have found their user interface to be so simplistic that it really doesn't count as a game in my mind.
The trivia games feel like they are me questions for marketing purposes because I really didn't get a lot of value out of their game, and I found myself not wanting to answer the questions, so I actually eventually just turned off the TV rather than answer them.
There is only so much you can do with a game if you
Just installed (Score:2)
Into the Breach - For free cause I got Netflix.
I've just never looked. Netflix should definitely make some attention grabbing widget to encrouage people to explore.
Why is there a Netflix advertisement here? (Score:2)
Because (Score:1)
Re: Because (Score:2)
Exactly. I signed up it's Netflix to watch movies, not play games.
Re: The Forced Violation of a Proud Boy. (Score:2)