Netflix’s next big gaming move could be a cloud platform
Since the start of this year, Netflix has doubled down on its promise to deliver the “best gaming service available.” Recent reports of heavy expenditures toexpand the game librarywith titles such asStranger Things: Puzzle Taleslend credence to its commitment. Moreover, Netflix isn’t likely to stop atAndroid games. It seems to be building a team of specialists to develop a yet-unfinished cross-platform game streaming service.
If recent job listings onNetflix’s jobs pageare to be believed, the company is working on “new waysof delivering entertainment that requires real-time, ultra-low latency network transport technologies” (viaProtocol). The listing doesn’t explicitly mention video game streaming but mentions related keywords such as RTP-based streaming, promising applicants they would have opportunities to “directly impact an emerging area of business.”
Seemingly, the description for the above listing reads like a bunch of indirect hints distantly related to cloud gaming; there’s another listing for a rendering engineer that explicitly states those hired will support Netflix’s cloud gaming service, quelling most of our doubts. Otherrelatedlistings outline the requirement for candidates with experience “building games for early or unfinished platforms.” This cannot be a reference to the Android games already rolling out. We see even more direct hints in the listing for asecurity product manager— it mentions the need for experience with “cloud gaming challenges.”
Since job listings are going online now, Netflix may be in the early stages of developing a cloud gaming platform. It would assuredly reduce the company’s reliance on third-party app stores when itsOpen Connect CDNhas been in place since 2011, an ideal substitute to stream games directly. After all, the company has already dipped its toes in the gaming space with Android titles, so its experience in cloud-based streaming could extend to game streaming rather conveniently.
However, we aren’t sure what this would mean for the company’s existing mobile game titles — a list that’sstill growing. Although cloud gaming has its upsides, including cross-platform compatibility and the convenience of lower hardware requirements, the company’s overall gaming intentions remain mysterious, though there’s a good chance game streaming may soon make an appearance if the company’s recent job titles are any clue of things to come.
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