Picture: Netflix Games
Netflix is looking for beta testers for “playtesting opportunities” in the future. They’ve launched a new website that allows you to register your interest in being included in future games set to be released, and provides an early opportunity to play and give feedback.
Beta testing for Netflix Games isn’t new; the company has held numerous beta releases for its games over the past few years. Those opportunities have required users to sign up either directly, as was the case with Rebel Moon, or through Google Play or the iOS App Store natively. However, these beta releases have always been on a title-by-title basis. We’ve also seen numerous soft launches in the past, where a select few regions have access to a game before it undergoes a wider rollout.
This direct approach appears to be related to opportunities regarding Netflix’s connected TV and web gaming experiences, which are considered the priority moving forward.
What are the genres Netflix is focusing on? They list several types of games that you can select that you’re interested in:
- Action/Adventure
- Kids/Family
- Puzzle/Quiz
- Role Playing
- Narrative
- Cozy
- Party
- Fighting
Screencapture of NetflixGames.com
As we’ve been covering, Netflix Games is currently at a crossroads. Having come out of the gate swinging a few years ago, primarily focused on mobile games, the strategy is changing under new leadership, and we’ll begin to see the fruits of this new leadership in the coming weeks and months. As with most new ventures or new genres Netflix jumps into, it’s often the case of throwing mud at the wall early on and using their data-driven approach to see what sticks. That seems quite crass, but the strategy aligns with Netflix’s ‘build, not buy’ mentality. That has led to some rough headlines, though. Over the past six months, we’ve seen dozens of games delisted and removed from the service, as well as games scrapped altogether.
Speaking during the Q2 2025 Earnings Call, Greg Peters reiterated their approach to games, saying, “We look at the near-term monetization opportunity with games very similar to how we’ve looked at other new content categories… if we deliver more value in our offering, we get increased user acquisition, we get increased retention, we get increased willingness to pay.”
He later adds that they’ve seen successes, saying, “We’ve seen good progress with licensed games like GTA. We’ve seen good progress with games we developed, like Squid Game Unleashed.”
Peters did go on to say that gaming is still a priority and a long-term strategic growth area for the business, “We’re going to ramp our investment in this area, which is currently quite small compared to our overall content investment, as we ramp the size of those positive effects… We want to remain disciplined in not investing too far ahead of demonstrating that we know how to translate that investment into value for our members.”
While new mobile games will still be released, the focus in the future is expected to shift primarily to native games within the TV and web environment, with your mobile device serving as a controller. Indeed, that functionality is already mostly in place now, with select titles available on your connected devices that require you to scan a QR code to jump into a controller setup. For the most part, it’s pretty seamless.
Hat tip to Sildon on the Netflix Gamers Subreddit and Discord for finding the new signup page.
