Netflix Gets Users With Two New Game Titles From Riot Games

Netflix launched its strategy to attract new users. (photo: doc. Epic Games)

JAKARTA - After reportedly experiencing a decrease in users some time ago, now Netflix is launching its strategy to attract new users by launching two new game titles, early 2022.

The company added Riot Games' Hextech Mayhem, with a League of Legends storyline. The game is also available through other gaming platforms and markets, including Nintendo Switch, Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.com, where users who want to download have to shell out $9.99.

Next up is Dungeon Dwarves, from Canadian developer Hyper Hippo, a company founded by Club Penguin co-founder Lance Priebe in 2012.

Both titles will launch February 3rd, and represent a new gaming partnership for Netflix. Initially Hextech Mayhem launched in the test markets of Poland, Italy, Spain and Brazil, but is now rolling out globally.

Launching TechCrunch, Thursday, February 3, in particular, it's a fairly new game and it wasn't long ago that it was available for other gaming platforms in November 2021. It's also the first major game franchise to come to Netflix's game collection.

Meanwhile, Dungeon Dwarves which has just been made available to Netflix members is the first and only idle game to launch on the Netflix service.

As with other games, Netflix users will be redirected to the new title via the company's app on iOS and Android. Android users can find games in many places, including the dedicated games tab in the app's main navigation. However, on iOS, games are only shown in special rows.

If you want to download the game, the user must first open the Netflix app, then be directed to the Play Store or App Store, then download and the game will ask the user to authenticate with their Netflix account information to get started. Keep in mind, this game can only be played on Netflix.

For your information, Netflix has been building its game service since late last year, when the company debuted with Stranger Things-themed titles and others.

Since then, it has rapidly expanded its available offerings to include puzzle games, racing, open world strategy games and more. The game itself is not self-developed on Netflix, but is provided by partners, including Frosty Pop, Rogue Games, and BonusXP.

The company explained to investors during its recent Q4 2021 earnings call that Netflix is preparing the game to better understand what consumers want from the new service.

"We're now really learning from all those games what the discovery patterns are, what the engagement patterns are, how they perform, what our members want from games on the service," said Netflix COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters.

The company, however, hasn't detailed how well its games perform, only saying that it has a growing number of daily and monthly active users on its game titles.