Netflix May Monetize Its Games Platform with In-App Purchases and Ads
Renowned streaming giant Netflix is allegedly looking into new ways to make money as it prepares to add in-app purchases and adverts to its gaming platform. The business has been having constant conversations about ways to monetize its gaming platform. For the past two years, a ton of mobile games have been available for free download for Netflix subscribers.
Netflix games might introduce ads and in-app purchases
Since entering the market, Netflix has increased its presence in the gaming industry and released a significant number of games. Since players have paid for the premium membership, the game is free of charge. However, the company is looking to change its current business model. In recent months, internal discussions have been held to discuss how to proceed with this plan. Netflix has been investigating different approaches to making money off its gaming platform. These consist of choices like implementing in-app purchases, setting a price for premium games, and adding advertisements to games that are available to subscribers in the ad tier.
The company has over 75 mobile games available, including Grand Theft Auto, Love is Blind, Monument Valley, and Oxenfree. The report claims that Netflix intends to charge for premium game titles and monetize game placement. The business declared last year that it didn’t worry about in-game and advertisement payments. In the world of mobile gaming, where consumers are predicted to spend $111.4 billion on games by 2024, these strategies are widespread (and successful).
Netflix games in public tests
Netflix has also established studios in Southern California and Finland, as well as acquired several IPs and development facilities. Additionally, there are rumors that the company is working on a PC game, which may be the reason it needs to increase revenue to finance the project and make more investments in the company. It would be a significant departure from the current revenue model if it proceeded with this plan and put the aforementioned into practice. As it stated during the April 2023 earnings call that it does not want to add in-app purchases and advertisements to the games on the platform, Netflix has so far offered all of the games for free.
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Current games hosted by Netflix
There are 86 games on Netflix right now. Furthermore, there are almost 90 more in development, some of which are based on Netflix’s original series. Over the previous year, the company released about 40 games, including third-party games like Football Manager 24 Mobile, and developed titles like Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals and Netflix Stories: Love is Blind.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which the company released last month, also brought the well-known GTA franchise to the platform. The company is creating video games based on the well-liked television program Squid Games. In this viewers will engage in competitive gameplay. Additionally, Super Evil Megacorp is developing a game based on the recently released Netflix film Rebel Moon, and a game based on Money Heist was just released.
Slow Netflix games subscriber rate
However, not many people have played the games and their adoption has been sluggish. Only 1% of subscribers played the games, according to data that was made public after the service’s first year of launch. This percentage hasn’t changed much. Even after more games have been launched, and despite Netflix Games having spent close to $1 billion, the company intends to increase revenue to succeed with these new concepts.
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Netflix’s recent password-sharing stint
According to the report, the streaming service originally opposed enforcing strict password-sharing policies and launching an ad-supported tier. For the first time in more than a decade, they lost thousands of subscribers in 2022. This led them to rethink their decision. It would make sense for Netflix to include in-game purchases and advertisements to monetize its game content. At the beginning of 2023, the company’s growth slowed, which resulted in a 3% reduction in its workforce.
Here’s what they said
Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters says the company wants to provide a unique gaming experience. It will provide creators with the flexibility to make games that are only intended for player enjoyment. They will be free from the worry of other revenue streams like in-game purchases or advertisements.
We want to have a differentiated gaming experience and part of that is giving game creators the ability to think about building games purely from the perspective of player enjoyment and not having to worry about other forms of monetization, whether it be ads or in-game payment.
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Twitter Unveiled A Creator Dashboard – A Way To Manage Earnings
Microblogging site Twitter has introduced a new tool for its creators called the “Creator Dashboard“ that will analyze their revenue on the platform. According to the company, the new tool is designed to help creators analyze how they make money on Twitter and how much they are earning from monetization features – Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces. The firm said in a statement,
“Introducing the Creator Dashboard a new way to help you view your earnings & track your Super Follow subscriptions over time, for now, we are testing with some creators on iOS — can’t wait to hear what you think.”
The Creator Dashboard is available to all U.S. creators on iOS who have at least 10,000 followers and use Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces. It can be accessed through the Monetization tab of the app. Twitter’s latest monetization tool is part of its growing set of tools, which has become a stronger focus over the past year, enabling it to provide new income streams for creators and keep popular users tweeting more often.
New Additions On Twitter
Over the past year, Twitter has added:
Professional Profiles for businesses and creators, which provide more opportunities to promote your business and offerings in the app.
Profiles for Super Follows, which enables creators to choose add-on options and exclusive content for a monthly fee (up to $9.99).
Ticketed Spaces for broadcasters, with 97% of any revenue generated going back to the creator
On-profile tipping, which it recently expanded allows users to make more payment options, which will enable users in more regions to accept payments
So far, none of these elements have become a significant revenue stream for the app. It’s early days, but if Twitter can develop a self-sustaining creator ecosystem, that will fuel engagement. Twitter’s also seeking to make sure it’s competitive on this front, at least to an extent. If creators can earn a greater income from one platform or another, that will eventually be where their focus will be. The consequence of that shift will be that other platforms are relegated to the broader ‘creator economy’, which will lower their overall audience share.
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