Netflix to Take on Apple Arcade With Mobile Games for Subscribers

[contacos]

It's free for Netflix subscribers. You cannot subscribe to Netflix through the iOS Netflix app that Apple gets $0 from

Netflix stops offering in-app subscriptions for new and returning customers on iOS

Now you’ll have to sign up through the web.

www.theverge.com

You have to subscribe through netflix.com, so Netflix can either integrate the games into the current Netflix app, or create a separate Netflix games app and subscribers sign in with their Netflix ID and password to play the games.

If Apple blocks this it'd be more evidence for governments to use to prove their case that Apple has an abusive anti-competitive monopoly with their app store.

but isn’t this the issue Microsoft also had? Basically Apple wanted to access every game on their platform to be able to review them?

 

[4jasontv]

don't do it netflix. i don't want my subscription money to go towards crappy games. make better shows instead.

Netflix has slowly become a dumping ground for bad content. They have 5000+ movies and every three months I find something worth watching.

 

[sdf]

Without being iOS native, there's no way you can say it will "take on" Apple Arcade.

 

[unobtainium]

but isn’t this the issue Microsoft also had? Basically Apple wanted to access every game on their platform to be able to review them?

Maybe Netflix is doing this in the hopes that Apple will interfere and they can take them to court. There seems to be a pretty concerted industry effort to break Apple’s hold on their platforms. Spotify, Epic, etc.

 

[User 6502]

It’s a bit presumptuous to think Netflix even noticed Apple Arcade. It’s a bad service with a tiny user base that has practically no market share. Netflix’s competitors are others.

 

[richman555]

The big rumor is that Netflix is partnering with Sony to compete with Microsoft Gamepass. Netflix has already done a deal with Sony Pictures for streaming rights.

Apple should just partner with Microsoft to add quality gaming for their platform.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Will those that use Apple Arcade, actually care?

 

[nutmac]

Netflix is seeing slowing subscriber growth numbers

View attachment 1808956

so they're taking a page out of Amazon's and the wireless carriers playbooks by offering extra features.

If their games catch on and prove successful they could use it to justify future price increases.

Bundling is certainly a strategy that could work, but given Netflix's high price point ($8.99 for 1xSD, $13.99 for 2xHD, $17.99 for 4xUHD), I am not sure Netflix can charge drastically more.

The way I see it, $17.99 tier should get the games for "free", complemented by a modest price increase to $19.99 (the price has been rising steadily every 18-24 months).

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Apple will just ban it from the App Store like everything else.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

Lol Going after Apple... Yeah, Good luck with that.

Going after Apple in gaming? Not hard.

 

[macduke]

So how would this work, exactly? Are there going to be a bunch of games on the App Store with Netflix branding in the icon that you need to sign into your Netflix account to play? I also do t like the idea that they’re doing this for existing customers. This will just make their existing rates go up whether or not I even want this.

 

[Whomever]

What's Apple Arcade?





(I'll duck)

 

[coachgq]

no price increase? Similar to their 4.99 plan that became 9.99 that’s now 17.99? Weird. For some reason I don’t believe what they are telling us.

 

[somnolentsurfer]

I suspect they’ll try to just bundle them into the existing Netflix app. After all, Bandersnatch is basically a game already, and Minecraft Story Mode is literally a game that was sold as such on other stores (though I confess to not knowing if their version is more limited). When Apple clamp down on them they will cry double standards and monopoly practices - and they’ll be right. At some point Apple are going to have to give on this. The question is when and how. I like it as it is, but I can’t see a way they win when they are doing everything they are accused of.

 

[SFjohn]

I suspect Disney+ will add games as well soon, they are crushing it in the streaming market. Later Disney music too? LOL

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Lol. Love the clickbait headline. Take on AppleArcade? AppleArcade is berift of AAA titles and is just ios games regurgitated

Well, I doubt that Netflix will have AAA titles, either. And, from the description, sounds like tie-in companion apps to have cross appeal with the shows. Not really sounding like AAA content. Unless they make an FPS from Castlevania? Or maybe they want to create a Brawl type game with Netflix characters “Netflix Noogie Fight” or something like that.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Wouldn’t Apple block this? Unless Netflix makes it a separate subscription and Apple takes its share

No they wouldn’t, as long as each game app was submitted individually — this was the issue that Microsoft had. It sounds like this would be a feature added to a particular subscription level, so this could be done outside the App Store.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Wouldn’t Apple block this? Unless Netflix makes it a separate subscription and Apple takes its share

but isn’t this the issue Microsoft also had? Basically Apple wanted to access every game on their platform to be able to review them?

For companies that AREN’T trying to be in a slap fight with Apple, releasing a slate of products via discrete separate apps has been a thing for awhile. One company I used to work for had LOT of apps, each one only providing value if you had a license to access our data. So, the company communicates with us to cut the deal B2B, we make the apps available for free, no IAP on the App Store, the customer downloads and enters their credentials, and they get access to the content. There are a lot of ways to win if the end goal isn’t ultimately just antagonizing Apple.

 

[dba415]

Apple Arcade is not a real offering that anyone cares about.

this one won’t be either.

 

[Solomani]

Netflix is setting the bar LOW if they are targeting Apple Arcade as their main competitor. Apple Arcade is a nothing-burger in the world of gaming.

If Netflix was really ambitious it would go something like this: "We at Netflix aim to be the top dog in online gaming. We will blow Steam out of the water. We will make Epic look like child's play. We will overtake Microsoft in the gaming field. We will dominate."

 

[svish]

Interesting move. Good that all current paying customers will get it without additional charge. But in the future price of Netflix subscription may increase just like it has happened before.

 

[twinlight]

I suspect they’ll try to just bundle them into the existing Netflix app. After all, Bandersnatch is basically a game already, and Minecraft Story Mode is literally a game that was sold as such on other stores (though I confess to not knowing if their version is more limited). When Apple clamp down on them they will cry double standards and monopoly practices - and they’ll be right. At some point Apple are going to have to give on this. The question is when and how. I like it as it is, but I can’t see a way they win when they are doing everything they are accused of.

Does Bandersnatch work on Apple devices? I had to use my PS3 netflix app to “watch” it.

 

[opeter]

NetFlix should buy DropBox (or merge) and then they'll be that bit closer to the same package offering as Apple has with Music/TV/Games/iCloud.

It can happen, that Netflix buys DropBox. It all depends how they want to expand in the foreseable future.

 

[pauloregan]

Netflix has seen the power of the bundle. This is just the start.

 

[VertPin]

Apple Arcade really had a chance if it came out during the mobile game boom of 2015. Apple waited far too long to make the AppleTV a viable home console. After trying out Apple Arcade for 4 months, I decided to cancel it. Nothing on it make it worth the extra cost.

It's not even a viable console, lol.