Netflix May Be Testing TV Games You Can Play Using Your Phone

Netflix may be testing new TV games that use a smartphone as a controller. Traces of Netflix’s new TV gaming plans have been discovered in the code for Netflix’s iOS app, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Steve Moser, an app developer found various references to Netflix games that can be played on a TV in the app’s code. Notably, one line says “A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?”

Netflix recently announced that it was planning to release 40 new mobile games this year, which will join the catalog of 55 games already available for subscribers on iOS and Android. Despite’s Netflix’s enthusiasm for gaming, less than 1% of Netflix subscribers are engaging with these mobile games on a daily basis according to data from Apptopia.

The Netflix app is now included on the majority of smart TVs, and it’s also available on streaming media players and game consoles. Using a smartphone or a tablet as a gamepad isn’t exactly convenient, but Netflix might see an opportunity to bring games to the TV that using mobile devices that almost everybody already has.

Last fall, Netflix also announced that it was working on its cloud gaming service that may eventually compete with Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming, Nvidia’s GeForce Now, or Amazon Luna. Our overall vision is that our members can play games on any Netflix device they have,” said Leanne Loombe, VP of External Games at Netflix earlier this month.