DECEMBER
Dialogue
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Issue 389
Slipped the Net
In a recent article in Cahiers Du Cinéma, David Lynch says “it’s all in the damn history books” regarding the death of cinema. He cites subscription services as the primary cause, although other factors are at play. E386’s ‘Net Gains’ feature gave me a similar sentiment regarding videogames. For Netflix to move into subscription games as a service leaves me with a bittersweet feeling; I can only see it as detrimental to the preservation and ownership of games. Firstly, on a cheerful note, disregarding most of the corporate spiel, VP Leanne Loombe seems to have a clear vision of how Netflix can succeed in the game market, with developers getting exposure they wouldn’t otherwise receive and being able to focus solely on creativity. The fact we got an upgrade to Into The Breach solely because of Netflix is to be lauded, and the idea that distribution, marketing and other platform hurdles are looked after by Netflix, allowing developers to make the best possible game they can, also sounds great.
“The fact we got an upgrade to Into The Breach solely because of Netflix is to be lauded”
The suggestion that the gaming answer to Squid Game is what’s needed is where I begin to see where they think the streaming wheels are falling off. Although I don’t have numbers, I’d compare the success of Squid Game to Pokémon Go at the height of its popularity back in 2016: a game that, while maintaining a loyal following, has never hit the lofty heights of its heyday. However, this may be a symptom of the natural lifecycle of live-service games. I was surprised to learn that Netflix Games has been in operation for 18 months; it was the first I’d heard of it while reading Edge, which suggests to me they need to look at more effective methods of getting games into the hands of new or non-gamers. If it’s not on the home page, why would they seek it out? It’s an apparent oversight, and gives me the impression that the inherent goodwill behind getting games into the hands of the average Netflix subscriber is performative at best; instead, they see a vast gaming audience they would like to bring to Netflix in the name of capital gains.