Netflix on TVs is Getting New Party Games That Use Phones as Controllers

Netflix is about to launch new social party games that its subscribers will be able to play on their TVs using their phones as controllers. At launch, the Netflix app on TVs will make five casual games available from the new ‘Games’ tab, which Netflix has already been using to test a new cloud gaming service with select users.

“We’re creating a completely new way to play games — one that’s as easy as streaming a show on a Friday night,” the company said in the announcement. “All you’ll need is Netflix and your phone to experience a whole new level of fun on Netflix with instantly recognizable games like LEGO® Party!, Pictionary: Game Night, Boggle Party, Tetris Time Warp, and a fresh take on the social deduction genre Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends.”

Netflix launching new party games that can be played on a phone echoes what Amazon recently announced for its Luna cloud gaming service. Later this year, Luna on TVs will get a new “GameNight” hub with social games that can be played with the mobile devices users already own.

Until now, Netflix’s games strategy has primarily focused on ad-free mobile games that subscribers can download from the App Store and Google Play Store. As for the company’s cloud gaming service, it’s still available as a limited beta test in select countries, but Netflix doesn’t seem ready to compete with Nvidia’s GeForce Now or Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Netflix didn’t announce a release date for its new party games yet, but they will launch “soon” on select TVs in certain countries. The company said that “this is just the beginning,” and I’m looking forward to seeing if Netflix and Amazon can popularize a new kind of social play.