SUMMARY
- Netflix added several games into its gaming segment, pushing it from 2021.
- Many games were big hits including Hades, Tomb Raider and the most recent GTA Trilogy.
Back in 2022, an analysis from Apptopia and CNBC indicated that less than one percent of Netflix’s customers took advantage of its gaming segment. The company had made its gaming offerings available to anyone with a Netflix subscription.
Despite the poor numbers, Netflix continued adding games to its gaming library. Fast forward to 2023, the platform has officially announced that their engagement on the gaming front has tripled.
Netflix’s gaming records triple engagement in 2023
Netflix has heavily pushed its gaming front ever since in 2021. In the process, it has added several high-profile game franchises such as Hades, Dead Cells, Braid, Death’s Door, Katana Zero, and Tomb Raider. It also started developing its own games after acquiring indie developer Night School. They developed Oxenfree II: Lost Signal as a Netflix original after the takeover.
Netflix’s GTA games hit 28m downloads in December pic.twitter.com/KbxHeihZvv
— Random Bullshit Go!!!! (@eliteseniordev) January 25, 2024
Netflix recently revealed its earnings report for the 2023 fiscal year. The reports disclose that the company’s gaming initiative witnessed a massive boost throughout last year, that is 2023. As per the report, Netflix has seen the engagement from users with Netflix Games “triple” over 2023 to 28 million.
The official report read, “While it’s still early days for our games offering, engagement tripled last year — and despite games still being small, and certainly not yet material relative to our film and series business, we’re pleased with this progress.”
This marks a significant increase in the Netflix service’s gaming brand. Especially considering the numbers in its initial two years, 2023 has turned out to be a game-changer.
GTA Trilogy becomes Netflix’s most successful launch
While officially announcing the numbers, Netflix cited the release of the GTA Trilogy on the service as a major driver for engagement on the platform. Netflix, in fact, went on to reveal that the Grand Theft Auto games’ December release was “the most successful launch” in the history of Netflix Games.
In December 2023, Netflix announced the launch of the celebrated Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Edition to its platform. It brought the game to mobile devices. Besides, Netflix offered the game for free to everyone having a Netflix subscription.
And within just a month, Netflix has reported massive success from the game’s launch. Clearly, the earning report proves that the GTA Trilogy Definitive edition has turned out to be a blessing for the service. Additionally, the company also acknowledged that some customers signed up on Netflix just to play the Grand Theft Auto games.
They said, “In Q4, we debuted the Grand Theft Auto trilogy from Rockstar Games. This has become our most successful launch to date in terms of installs and engagement, with some consumers clearly signing up simply to play these games.”
Netflix also stated that GTA proved the most successful game in driving installs and engagement on the platform. Although it did not disclose the exact number of people who had downloaded the trilogy since its release on the platform, some reports suggest it had 18 Million downloads.
