Netflix has been advancing its presence in the gaming sphere, especially when you look at the last few years. They have been adding a number of games to their platform and they have also been acquiring game studios, in an attempt to create more exclusive titles. The bold move to shift their focus to AI came a few weeks after they chose to lay off many game developers.
Netflix has Been Steadily Advancing its Presence
Netflix has been steadily advancing its presence within the gaming space, especially over the last few years. Their move into gaming is a natural transition too, especially when you look at the fact that the streaming service operates online, and combine this with the steady increase in popularity of online games.
Online games also offer a lot of potential when it comes to exploring different themes too, something Netflix are already well-versed in. Slingo jackpot games are a good example here, as they have been steadily rising in popularity, with more game variants released by the year. Each game variant attracts a different demographic too. With themes that range from Norse mythology, like Slingo Journey to Asgard, to intergalactic titles like Slingo Space Invaders, this niche of games shows immense potential, in terms of creativity and playability.
Netflix are capitalising on this growing online gaming trend by developing their platform's section for games, creating games based on hit exclusives. This is a good business move too, and their experimentation with AI shows that they could be trying to move forward with this idea, but on a bigger scale.
Netflix is in the Middle of a Huge Transition
Team Blue is a big example of Netflix’s ambition. They employed experienced game developers but then shut down their ambitious project. This resulted in 35 job losses. While Netflix has confirmed that they are in the middle of a planned transition, the details of it have not been released. Some say that Netflix has plans to implement generative AI in their games and that they may be using it as a way to create 3D models and concept art.
Other uses could include AI-driven game development as a way to create 3D environments. The company’s pivot to adopting generative AI has raised some concerns, with the main one being creativity. Netflix believes that AI could be a catalyst for future growth and that it could lead to new and interesting opportunities for them later down the line. With that said, there are still some speculations as to how influential AI could be, and with Netflix expanding into new ventures, experienced game developers are still needed now more than ever.
Although Netflix’s plan of action right now isn’t clear, it does show that monumental changes are happening within the gaming sector and that moving forward, it may be that other companies follow in the same footsteps. As generative AI still needs a lot of human intervention to ensure originality and creativity, AI may become a way to streamline work processes, rather than being used to replace them entirely.
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