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Comment by dasil003 | Hacker News Reader

Are more people going to subscribe to Netflix because of this? Will they be distracted from the core business? Building a streaming video service is very different from building games of any sort, do they want to dilute their talent by going out and hiring for this?

Sorry but I just don't see how this in any makes sense other than, "hey Netflix is doing really well, why don't they pull a Google and start throwing spaghetti at the wall".

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Do they ever actually hire people directly to make any of their content? I assumed it was all contracted out to production companies, I know it is for some shows. They could do the same thing for games just acting like a distributor.

I think it's more likely to keep people subscribed then generate new subscriptions. No one person is going to like all the content they make. Personally I'd really enjoy having some fun well made mobile games I knew wouldn't try to sucker me at every turn with IAP. I think people with kids would really appreciate this. Their competitive advantage is they don't have to worry about IAP or marketing.

I don't think this really falls into the category of "throwing spaghetti at the wall." It's creating entertainment content for a fixed monthly cost. Different entertainment, sure, but it's no self driving car.

We made a Stranger Things mobile game for Netflix that is free and devoid of IAP. It's just freely available on the app stores though, and does not require a Netflix subscription. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stranger-things-the-game/id1... and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bonusxp.le...

How do they distribute the games?

App store with a Netflix login in front? Same way they distribute their current app.

And how would they persuade Google and Apple to let them install apps directly on people's devices?

Exactly how their current app works. You download from the app store then login to access the content. Each game is it's own app on the app store. Maybe it violates TOS but their current app and others like spotify use the same mechanic to restrict access.

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