According to the Wall Street Journal, Netflix is negotiating with Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, to acquire its own Grand Theft Auto game for its video game platform.
For more than two years, Netflix has been trying to establish itself in the mobile video game sector. The video streaming platform has finally acquired a catalog of titles that is growing month by month and is beginning to impress with titles such as Oxenfree II, Spiritfarer, Unknown Soldiers, Immortality and many others that we also found on consoles.
Although Netflix Games had a more than slow start, the group never gave up and constantly argued that it believed in it and would increase its offering to make it more attractive. In total, the service now includes more than 50 titles that are included free of charge in the subscription and can be accessed on smartphones and tablets.
GTA expands its star catalog
And the company founded by Reed Hastings never stops thinking bigger. The company has already spent almost a billion dollars to further develop its service. The American giant acquired such renowned studios as Night School Studios, Next Games and Boss Fight Entertainment before opening its own studios in Finland and Southern California.
Initially largely based on adaptations of in-house hits (Stranger Things, La Casa de Papel, Love is blind…), then on successful licenses (Tomb Raider, Sonic, Hello Kitty…) or already listed mobile games (Cut The Rope, Asphalt , Reign…), Netflix has also signed partnerships with several renowned publishers and in particular Ubisoft, which will develop an Assassin’s Creed game. And the platform would dream of getting its own Grand Theft Auto (GTA) game.
According to the Wall Street Journal, talks have begun between those responsible for the service and those at Take Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, to acquire the rights to the license. Nothing specific was revealed about the meeting, whether it would be for a brand new title or a previous mobile release like GTA Vice City Stories or GTA Chinatown Wars.
Grand Theft Auto V – Rockstar Games
The challenge of cloud gaming
Netflix also wants to take on a new challenge by testing its cloud gaming offering. These are users based in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States who will be the first to try out mobile video games on their smart TV screen or via a box connected to a television (Chromecast, Fire TV, etc.). It is the smartphone that then serves as a game controller.
Netflix has been discussing the possibility of offering this service to its subscribers for several months. Far from wanting to compete with the Playstation and other Xboxes, Netflix primarily wants to diversify its content offering by offering “added value,” said Mike Verdu, the head of Netflix Games, last year. Especially with the half-admitted goal of keeping subscribers on the platform longer. Video games, including many titles based on series licenses, are an attractive bonding opportunity, especially for young adults.
At the end of September, the number of games downloaded on Netflix was estimated at 70.5 million, more than double the number a year earlier (30.4 million), according to application tracking company Apptopia. This is still far below the giants of the mobile sector and the number of users is barely 1% of Netflix subscribers, which are estimated at almost 240 million people.