Netflix brings social gaming to TVs, turning streaming screens into party playgrounds
Netflix is bringing its video games to TVs for the first time, offering social and party games like Boggle Party, Pictionary, Tetris Time Warp, and Lego Party. Players use their phones as controllers while gameplay appears on the big screen. The move aims to expand Netflix beyond streaming, creating interactive, social entertainment and leveraging its existing properties like Stranger Things.
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Netflix is taking its video games out of smartphones and onto TVs, aiming to make living rooms a new frontier for social gaming. The move, announced by co-CEO Greg Peters at the Bloomberg Screentime conference, marks a major step in Netflix’s push to expand beyond films and TV shows.
“One of the gaming areas we’re going after is social gaming experiences that can show up on your TV,” Peters said, giving Netflix a B-minus for its progress in the space so far, Bloomberg reported. The first batch of games includes Boggle Party, Pictionary: Game Night, Tetris Time Warp, and Lego Party, all designed for group play. Users will use their phones as controllers, while gameplay unfolds on the big screen.
Netflix has been offering games for four years, primarily on mobile devices. But the company’s gaming leadership, including Alain Tascan, a former Epic Games executive, believes that targeting TV-based play will create a more engaging, social experience. Tascan noted that Hollywood studios have struggled in gaming because they approached it short-term, whereas Netflix aims to integrate it as a core part of its entertainment ecosystem.
The company has identified four priority categories: games for kids, party games, mainstream hits like Grand Theft Auto, and titles based on Netflix properties such as Stranger Things. All games in the current lineup are free, including Lego Party, which normally retails for about $40.
To play, users need a smart TV or a streaming device like Roku and can turn their phones into controllers by scanning a QR code. Netflix is also investing in cloud server capacity to ensure smooth gameplay for its growing user base.
“To entertain the world, we must include games,” Tascan said. “A lot of companies have a lot of users, but not that many have all these people on the main entertainment screen at home, the TV.”
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