Netflix, the popular video streaming giant, on Friday, announced that it has started limited beta testing of its cloud gaming service on TVs and computers for ‘a small number’ of subscribers in Canada and the UK.
Starting Friday, the beta testing is open only to a limited number of gamers on select TVs. However, the beta testing will expand on PCs and Macs through Netflix.com on supported browsers, with keyboard and mouse control support in the next few weeks.
For those unaware, in November 2021, Netflix globally launched its video game subscription service, Netflix Games, for mobile devices (Android and iOS).
This video game service is included with the Netflix membership, and games are available in the games tab of the Netflix app for Android and iOS. As of August 2023, there are over 70 mobile games available on the streaming platform’s video game service.
“Today, we’re taking the first step in making games playable on every device where our members enjoy Netflix — TVs, computers, and mobile,” Mike Verdu, Netflix Vice President of games, wrote in the blog post on Friday.
As part of initial beta testing, only two games will be available for beta testers, which are Oxenfree from Night School Studio, a Netflix Game Studio, and Molehew’s Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game.
Testers will be able to use their smartphones as controllers while streaming games on their smart TVs. In order to use the gaming service on a TV, iOS users will need to download the standalone ‘Netflix Game Controller’ app, while Android users can use the built-in virtual controller in their version of the Netflix app. Further, members on PCs and Macs can play on Netflix.com with a keyboard and mouse.
The limited beta testing will be carried out on select smart TVs and streaming TV devices that support Netflix game streaming, which are Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart ONN.
Additional smart TVs and devices will be added on an ongoing basis, says Netflix.
“By making games available on more devices, we hope to make games even easier to play for our members around the world. While we’re still very early in our games journey, we’re excited to bring joy to members with games. We look forward to hearing feedback from our beta testers and sharing more as we continue on the road ahead,” Verdu concluded in the blog post.