The world is going through yet another entertainment revolution, and this time its centred once again around the ever-booming gaming industry. Big tech is swiftly moving in for a slice of pie, with companies like leading game publisher Take Two Interactive looking to acquire the hugely popular online mobile poker game, Zynga, for a staggering $12.7 billion. This huge deal almost pales in comparison, however, to the record-breaking $69 billion that Microsoft recently paid for Activision Blizzard, creator of many popular games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Hearthstone.
Now Netflix, the world-famous movie-streaming and producing giant, is set to enter it own new phase of evolution, announced its co-CEO and co-founder Reed Hasting in a recent conference call. With mobile gaming now a leader in world entertainment, said Hastings, the logical next step for Netflix is to use its production expertise and first-rate online services to deliver its very own games. He went further to state his strong belief in Netflix being fully capable of diversifying to become a world leader in game development and distribution.
Bold Steps Foward In Gaming
Greg Peters, the Netflix chief operating officer, also announced that the company will shortly begin licensing “big game” intellectual property, cryptically adding that “people will recognise” the names. He acknowledged the immense task that the company has ahead of them, especially starting things from scratch, but believes that the “walk, crawl, run” method that brought Netflix its success will be sufficient. No doubt the immense wealth and resources that Netflix has accumulated over the past years will also help.
Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard was a huge eye-opener for the world’s big business sectors, and though the amount that was paid was truly enormous, so far it appears to be paying off, and in a big way. Gaming, and the futuristic vision of what it’s evolving into, popularly dubbed “the metaverse”, is exciting more and more interested parties with its ever-growing possibilities and prospects. It has even led troubled, but still giant, Facebook to change its name to Meta.
Aiming For Success Over Failure
While Microsoft has had a considerable amount of experience in games, other big companies however, such as Disney and Google, have tried and failed at similar initiatives over the past decades.
So, it will remain to be seen how Netflix will fare, and whether it will truly become a leader of the “metaverse” that both Hastings and Peters so eagerly anticipate. Particularly since the it’s not quite been established yet what the metaverse even is, except that it will likely involve the ever-increasing advantages and potential offered by mobile game tech in some form. Also including growing trends like virtual and augmented reality and the ever-improving PC and console gaming tech. It may even include tech like we see in use at Thrills Casino.
In the meantime, though, the world can expect to see a lot more acquisition and partnerships between big companies and gaming-related assets in the coming years. Netflix will likely need to exercise some foresight and careful planning, and also versatility, to achieve their ambitious plan, but these days, anything is possible.
