Why are so many tech companies playing games?
Breaking down Netflix's unambitious move and other Strange Things
One of the best/worst things that ever happened to the streaming space was Netflix hitting it out of the park not once (“House of Cards”) but twice (“Orange is the New Black”) with its two most serious original content plays (no disrespect to “Lilyhammer.” Actually, yes, some disrespect).
The good part was these shows proved the legitimacy of the player and medium in one fell swoop (it turns out bingeing is awesome and Netflix is serious about its own shows). The bad part is that it made it look easy.
Just spend a lot of money and you too can have instant hits, or pretty much crack any business you want to.
Of course, if that were true, Quibi would still exist and Giancarlo Stanton would be totally worth it.
Of course, Netflix has been stumbled multiple times since then on originals - most recently on the would-be franchise “Jupiter’s Legacy,” which you not only didn’t watch but didn’t notice and don’t remember. But hey, who cares when “The Queens Gambit” cleans up at the Emmys?
Except that it’s been a minute since that show popped during quarantine, and Netflix has even seen its US subscribers numbers dip.
So it’s getting into - video games?
There has been talk for years of someone trying to launch the “Netflix of gaming” - and now Netflix is, sorta trying it. Only the games will be free, with no ads, on the Netflix app.
Peter Kafka of Vox has a great explainer of the logic here. But I surely don’t get it. I don’t know that much about video games, but I do know this:
If you want to succeed in this market, you actually need some big-time games that people want to play. Serious gamers actually don’t jump around that much - they pick favorites and stick with them
The video game business is not something you half-ass
On that second point, look to Google and Amazon.
Google, you may recall, pumped tons of money into a cloud gaming platform called Stadia, which was ostensibly poised to become the “Netflix of Games” - only cloud gaming still isn’t really a thing (witness how impossible it is to buy a PS5 - i.e. hardware) and more importantly, Stadia didn’t have any games of consequence. It’s not like Google ever went all in and tried to buy a company like Activision or something.
Meanwhile, Amazon actually spent millions in an attempt to develop brand new video game IP - as in let’s put a bunch of experienced video game people in a room and telling them to not come out into the come up with the next Fortnite or Madden.
And early this year Amazon abruptly said no mas - leading to one of the best tweets of the day on Bezos Penis Rocket Day.
(Let’s not forget Apple Arcade - use it much? maybe you do?)
My point is, if Netflix isn’t going to really go for it, why bother? I realize Reed Hastings is talking about using mobile games as a retention tool, but I have a hard time buying whether anyone’s decision to go Netflix or all in on Tubi will come down to whether they like the “Bridgerton” mobile experience. It feels like a desperate move by a company that rarely acts desperate.
On the flip side, a company that has no shame in just trying whatever, what’s behind Facebook’s sudden billion-dollar fund for creators (is Qanon included?), other than TikTok envy. Maybe this will work, and suddenly all the funniest dance-offs and meme juggernauts and Nickeh30s will turn their focus to Facebook and Instagram. But really, $1 billion feels like a drop in the bucket.
I really doubt it.
Remember when Microsoft tried to pump billions into Mixer, even paying the influencer Ninja $20 million-plus to join the platform. He was back on Twitch in a year, and Mixer was shuttered faster than you can flip through all of your Fleets. In fact, post Mixer, Microsoft was partnering with - Facebook Gaming (?!?!)
Perhaps Facebook will put serious attention and muscle behind its new creator fund. Or perhaps it will get the same level of priority as Facebook Watch, or IGTV, or Facebook Fake Substack.
But to butcher Bill Parcells, at a certain point, you are what you are - or in the case of digital media, you are what people use you for. People use Netflix to stream shows, and that’s really it. People use Facebook to share baby pictures and anti-vax sentiment, not to watch influencers talk about makeup or leggings or Call of Duty strategies.
It will take more than cash to change that.