Netflix has been looking to expand its hold on our free time for several months and it seems the powers that be have finally found a way. According to a report at Bloomberg (paywall), the media giant will be adding streaming video games to its arsenal within the next year. The company has already started expanding beyond movies and series by hiring former EA Mobile and Zynga developer Mike Verdu. His official title is Vice President of Game Development and he’ll report directly to Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters.
Netflix’s move ties in nicely with its commitment to creating series out of well-known games. Examples include the wildly popular Witcher series with Henry Cavill and the beloved Castlevania series which wrapped up its run earlier this year. In addition, the company has been developing its own games to tie in with series exclusive to the streaming giant. Stranger Things and Cobra Kai both were featured in video games over the last year. A quick look at the company’s Jobs site reveals its commitment to expanding into the lucrative games market.
The news of the company’s possible expansion into gaming sent its stock soaring over 3.3% to land at $566 per share in late trading yesterday. Prior to the floated rumor, shares had been trending upward at 1.3%.
While still technically a “rumor”, the news seems to have a lot of weight behind it. We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on things and hope to hear and official announcement soon. Regardless, this is exciting news for gamers.
In the meantime, go check out something great by visiting the Netflix official site.