Netflix just learned an expensive lesson that developing video games is a challenge

Netflix Games appears to be falling into the same traps as many studios and publishers in the gaming industry. The first central issue is that after a year of service, few people had heard of Netflix Games or knew what it was. So, perhaps operating on a false idea imposed by COVID-19 that saw the gaming medium skyrocket, Netflix Games expanded rapidly despite few playing games.

Then came talent buying, like hiring Halo Infinite creative lead Joseph Staten. At this point, Netflix was on its way to developing its own AAA titles. Still, you can’t expand forever without releasing real products, which Netflix’s Team Blue learned when the company recently shut down the developer before releasing its first game, mirroring a similar mistake Google made with Stadia, where it bought and closed a studio before releasing. could produce anything. Amazon was in a similar situation, as another outside company struggling to gain a foothold in the gaming industry, and it suddenly cut jobs in its gaming division.

AAA games have become too bloated to create

The solution is simple: create smaller games with smaller studios

Making and selling games is difficult, especially if you’re new to the game. It’s a challenge to make games that people want to play. Even worse, making games is expensive, especially if you intend to make AAA games, a lesson Google quickly learned with Stadia, and something Netflix Games should have taken seriously.

The AAA market hasn’t been doing very well lately, which has a lot to do with the scope of these games being very large. Graphical demands often outpace current hardware, resulting in titles that cut corners and underperform, with gameplay design and stories that are often lacking. Similar to what’s happening in Hollywood, today’s media feels very safe, stuffy, and boring (thankfully, there’s still worthwhile content).

Hollywood’s failures have allowed Netflix to grow and prosper when it comes to movies and TV. Netflix turned the film industry upside down by using cheaper productions to quickly create mid-tier content that used to be released in theaters (anyone remember all those teen movies from the late 1990s and early 2000s?) . Now, this content is released on streaming services. This is where Netflix’s power shines, and this is exactly what Netflix Games should be focusing on instead of trying to create AAA studios.

Netflix Games has released some of the best games on the Play Store in recent years. Some of our best releases are thanks to Netflix games like Into the Breach that wouldn’t be on the Play Store without Netflix paying to port it. Netflix Games has an idea of ​​what good and fun games are, as its catalog is full of them.

Netflix needs to lean into its strengths and create low-budget games

Similar to the way it creates films and TV

The gaming industry is on the verge of major changes. The status quo of taking a decade to produce a blockbuster AAA game is proving to be madness as game after game fails to meet sales expectations. AAA games cost a lot to make, take a long time to make, and by the time they’re finished, the trend the developer is likely trying to achieve has gone out of style. Game developers need to step back and create smaller games that are cheaper to develop if they want to be successful. This is something Netflix should know on the film and TV side.

Cutting back now could be a sign that Netflix is ​​applying what it learned from Hollywood to its gaming side. As it stands, AAA games are a bad investment in today’s market. Why bet big on a game when you can make smaller bets with some AA studios? After all, this is the Netflix model. Why shouldn’t the company apply this to game development?

Games need to be made for players first and foremost

And small projects are the easiest way to do this without going broke.

It’s never fun to see a game studio close before it has a chance to shine. If this recent change means we get smaller projects made to appeal to gamers, rather than some AAA designed by committee for a non-existent mainstream audience, we’ll all be better off for it. Let’s hope that Netflix Games can put its development efforts into smaller games while continuing to bring excellent releases to the platform. It will be a step ahead of the competition by focusing on what players want, not shareholders.