Netflix has seen early positive traction for its TV Party Game pack that launched last fall ahead of the holiday season and intends to expand that cloud-based TV gaming strategy in 2026.
Executives shared an update on the gaming strategy Tuesday during Netflix’s fourth quarter and full-year 2025 earnings interview, during which co-CEO Greg Peters said cloud-based TV games are “a big priority” for the company and while still in the early days, the SVOD giant is “very bullish on the opportunity side.”
This past fall Netflix launched a pack of multi-player TV Party Games that are cloud-based and don’t require dedicated hardware, instead using mobile phones as the controller. Titles in the initial batch include classics like Boggle, Pictionary, Tetris, and LEGO Party.
StreamTV Insider previously spoke with Omdia Chief Analyst Rob Gallagher about the effort, where he described how the typically family-filled holiday season would tee up the first meaningful test and learn for Netflix’s strategy to boost engagement and deliver low-cost, easy to play cloud-based party games. (For more from Omdia and potential challenges and opportunity around Netflix’s party games effort, read here).
The company didn’t share a ton of specifics on the earnings call as to what it’s seen so far but provided some color that the casual TV games have had early traction.
Per Peters, Netflix is still in the early stages of the rollout, with the games available to roughly one-third of subscribers. Only rolling party games out to part of the base initially is primarily about technological needs and ensuring the TV devices can handle the cloud-based games, he noted.
But Netflix has seen “really strong uptake” of the recently launched TV Party Games, Peters said, while acknowledging that’s off a small base or “about 10% reach into those eligible members.”
Still, “our TV based games have enjoyed quite a significant engagement uptick after that party pack launch,” he said.
Engagement has taken greater priority as a metric at the company for the value Netflix is delivering to subscribers, though on the call executives acknowledged that not all engagement is equal and it continues to home in on the best measures of and try to drive quality engagement.
With TV Party Games part of the vision for Netflix is reimagining family game night – both upping engagement and potentially extending the utility of the SVOD for users – while also tapping into a potentially large market of people who like games but don’t have or want to shell out for expensive dedicated consoles or other hardware.
Netflix plans to expand that cloud-first TV games strategy this year, and execs also cited more kids and narrative feature releases in 2026.
For cloud-based games on the TV this year Peters also called out Netflix’s recently announced reimagined FIFA simulation game.
Speaking to the importance of the gaming effort for Netflix, Peters on Tuesday noted that it’s a big market, with roughly $140 billion in consumer spend excluding China.
In addition to classic casual gaming titles, Netflix also released an interactive cloud-based TV game tied to IP with Dead Man’s Party: A Knives Out Game.
Upping interactivity in general and using games to help deepen connection with Netflix content while using content to drive interest in games – ultimately to boost engagement for both and keep subscribers with the platform - is also part of the picture.
Netflix is only scratching the surface on what it can do in the games space, according to the co-CEO, but is already seeing how games can positively impact other parts of the business like core shows and films, and vice versa.
“We already are seeing multiple instances of how this approach not only extends the audience's engagement with the service and with the story, but it also creates synergy that reinforces both mediums,” Peters said. “So the interactive and the non-interactive side, that drives more engagement, more retention.”
It’s seeing progress, but still plenty of work to do, he added, noting Netflix will “ramp our investment” in the cloud-based games initiative based on the value they can demonstrate to subscribers and returns on investment to the company.