Boggle Kicks Off Netflix’s New Video Game Strategy

At a glance

• Feature: Netflix has launched a new feature called Game Night.
• Games: Users can play titles like Boggle Party and Pictionary: Game Night on their TVs.
• Access: Game Night is available without additional fees or subscriptions.
• Device Compatibility: Users can utilize their mobile phones as controllers for gameplay.

Would you play Boggle or Pictionary on your TV? Netflix thinks so.

On Thursday, Netflix introduced a new feature called Game Night, which lets customers play a handful of video games with just their TV, using their phones as controllers. Launching today, Game Night includes Boggle Party, Lego Party!, Pictionary: Game Night, Tetris Time Warp, and Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends. Game Night is available now without any additional subscription or fees.

A Netflix press release states, “Netflix just made game night a whole lot easier. Now you can play games on your TV. All you need is Netflix and your phone. That’s it. Just like that, everything you need to start playing with your friends and family is in the palm of your hands.”

Game Night represents a pivot for Netflix’s video game strategy. The streaming app first experimented with video games in 2021, but the platform has never become a hub for gamers in the United States. Since 2021, Netflix has launched more than 100 mobile games, per the New York Times, with its most successful title, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, reaching almost 40 million downloads.

However, the word download is key. Playing Netflix games required users to head to an app store and download an app, an awkward and counterintuitive approach for a streaming app. But with Netflix Game Night, users can play games directly in the Netflix app itself.

Netflix customers with a compatible device will have access to Game Night right away, and it’s also accessible in web browsers. Per a Netflix announcement, “To play a game on your TV using your mobile device, select a game, then scan the game’s QR code with your phone’s camera.” And in a press release, Netflix said it will be launching a “stack of new titles” for the holiday season.

“Starting today, you can play games on your TV, using your phone as a controller — no setup needed, it’s as easy as streaming your favorite shows,” said Alain Tascan, president of games at Netflix, in a press release. “You can now go from watching KPop Demon Hunters to playing Pictionary: Game Night without ever leaving Netflix. And for those who love to play anywhere and everywhere, we’re bringing even more games to your phone with our own special Netflix touch.”