Netflix is running tests to bring video games to your PC, Mac and TV
For now, the service is only for select beta testers
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Netflix is experimenting with the idea of bringing video games to more platforms via a limited beta test, which is currently accessible to select members in Canada and the UK.
Video games were added to Netflix back in 2021 - right now, every paying Netflix member, regardless of their subscription tier, can get free access to a plethora of titles, includingOxenfreeand its recently released sequel,Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals,Before Your Eyes, andTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. However, up to this point, they were only playable on mobile devices.
Announced yesterday (August 14) by the vice president of games at Netflix, Mike Verdu, a small number of Netflix members in Canada and the UK can currently try out playingOxenfreeandMolehew’s Mining Adventureon select TVs thanks to a limited beta, which aims to test out Netflix’s “game streaming technology and controller”. The controller? Your mobile phone.
Initially, TV gaming will operate solely on select devices. Right now, that includesSamsungSmart TVs,Rokudevices (and TVs),LGTVs, Chromecast onGoogleTVs, Walmart ONN,NVIDIAShield TVs, andAmazonFire TV streaming media players. More will be added to that line-up in the future, however.
What’s more, in coming weeks, the limited beta test will expand to supported browsers on PC and Mac, where members will be able to play the titles using a mouse and keyboard.
“By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world,” Verdu wrote in apostvia Netflix Newsroom. “While we’re still very early in our games journey, we’re excited to bring joy to members with games. We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead.”
Netflix hopes that the test will ultimately “improve the member experience over time”.
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Catherine is a News Writer for TechRadar Gaming. Armed with a journalism degree from The University of Sheffield, she was sucked into the games media industry after spending far too much time on her university newspaper writing about Pokémon and cool indie games, and realising that was a very cool job, actually. She previously spent 19 months working at GAMINGbible as a full-time journalist. She loves all things Nintendo, and will never stop talking about Xenoblade Chronicles.
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