OTT giant Netflix announces it will be offering games on its platform

OTT giant Netflix has announced that it will be making a foray into gaming. The games will be available on the platform at no extra cost and marks the company's next step into interactive entertainment.

According to a statement by a Netflix spokesperson: “Our members value the variety and quality of our content. It’s why we’ve continually expanded our offering - from series to documentaries, film, local language originals and reality TV. Members also enjoy engaging more directly with stories they love - through interactive shows like Bandersnatch and You v. Wild, or games based on Stranger Things, La Casa de Papel and To All the Boys. So we’re excited to do more with interactive entertainment”.

Mike Verdu is joining Netflix as VP of Game Development, reporting to Greg Peters, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer. He was most recently VP of Content for Facebook Reality Labs, overseeing Oculus Studios as well as the teams bringing second and third party virtual reality games and other apps to Oculus VR headsets including the new Oculus Quest and Quest 2.

Before joining Facebook, Verdu was SVP of Mobile for Electronic Arts, responsible for mobile game studios that operated SimCity BuildIt, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Real Racing 3, The Sims Freeplay, The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, and other mobile game services. He served as President of Studios at Kabam from 2015 to 2016, joining that company through the acquisition of his mobile game start-up TapZen.

Verdu was also President of Studios and Chief Creative Officer for Zynga between 2009 and 2012, overseeing studios making and operating Facebook social games including Cafe World, FrontierVille, CastleVille, Mafia Wars, and Zynga Poker. Earlier in his career, Verdu helmed several PC and console games for EA as an executive producer, including Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II, and others.