Netflix and Ubisoft have joined together to strengthen Netflix’s budding video game business
Netflix has partnered with Ubisoft, one of Europe’s largest video game firms, to boost its gaming business.
The California-based streaming service will debut three Ubisoft mobile games next year, including Assassin’s Creed.
Netflix is trying to build its gaming division while its streaming business slows. The streaming group’s market value has dropped by more than half since April, when it stopped growing subscribers.
French gaming group will develop Netflix mobile games. This includes Ubisoft’s castle-building and monster-looting game Mighty Quest and Valiant Hearts, a historical puzzle adventure game.
The games will be offered exclusively to Netflix customers, without commercials or in-app purchases, allowing Ubisoft to reach new audiences and experiment with new forms. No price was disclosed.
Netflix entered the gaming business last year, recruiting high-profile executives as it joined the world’s leading tech companies in aiming to steal a piece of the entertainment industry’s most valuable segment.
Netflix has launched 28 games and bought three companies, including Night School Studio, which develops Oxenfree. In March, it bought Finnish firm Next Games, which made Stranger Things mobile games.
The corporation has failed to turn many of its 220mn members into regular gamers. According to market intelligence firm Apptopia, Netflix’s mobile games have 28mn instals and 1.9mn daily active users. King, which makes Candy Crush, has 30m daily active users.
Leanne Loombe, Netflix’s head of external games, said the business is “very committed to games” but is experimenting to see which styles and genres users like most.
“Whoever our members are, we want to make sure there is a game for them,” she added, adding that “we are going to start focusing more on Netflix IP” because “that is what we do best.”
The streaming behemoth wants 50 games by year’s end.
Its campaign comes as console makers, video game publishers, and gaming chipmakers report weaker sales and engagement. Snap, which controls Snapchat, halted its gaming plans last week.
Loombe said the company was unfazed by a recent drop in gaming engagement, especially on mobile, because “people are still playing games, so there is still a huge opportunity for us.”
You need a few hours to watch a TV series or movie, but only five minutes to play a game on your commute.