Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Entertainment

The first Netflix games are live, but probably not for you

By

Netflix’s foray into gaming has begun. Slowly. And only in Poland.

The world’s largest streaming service has announced that it’s spun up two games — Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3 — and that you’ll be able to play without ads, without in-app purchases, and with everything included in your current Netflix membership.

Recommended Videos

But the vast majority of Netflix’s nearly 213 million paid subscribers don’t have access just yet, as the games have only launched in Poland. (And firing up a VPN instance in Warsaw didn’t make the games magically appear for us here in the United States.)

Netflix's "Stranger Things" games on mobile.
The first mobile games from Netflix are here, with two titles set in the Stranger Things world. Image used with permission by copyright holder

The initial rollout was discussed on Netflix’s Twitter accounts. “Today, members in Poland can try Netflix mobile gaming on Android with two games, Stranger Things: 1984 and Stranger Things 3,” the company wrote. “It’s very, very early days and we’ve got a lot of work to do in the months ahead, but this is the first step.”

Related

We’ve known for a couple months that Netflix was headed in this direction, courtsey of a brief mention in the company’s second-quarter 2021 earnings note. In the letter to shareholders, Netflix said:”We view gaming as another new content category for us, similar to our expansion into original films, animation and unscripted TV.” It announced then that the games would be included in subscriptions, and that it would focus on the mobile space at first.

The experiment into gaming is an interesting one, and in a lot of ways it makes sense. Netflix has a growing stable of original content on which it can piggyback. While not everything lends itself to the traditional gaming experience (The Crown or Bridgerton, anyone?), you could easily imagine expanded gaming experiences built around titles like Sweet Tooth, Warrior Nun, or even the underrated animated series Pacific Rim: The Black. (We wouldn’t hold out for a Netflix mobile gaming version of The Witcher, though, due to the obvious collision with the existing PC and console games.)

As for when we can expect Netflix’s gaming experiment to make its way out of the heart of Europe, that’s anyone’s guess. Stay tuned.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson
Section Editor, Audio/Video
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
Like the Netflix hit series Baby Reindeer? Then watch these 3 great shows now
Richard Gadd in Baby Reindeer sitting on a bus with a yellow coat staring forward, the image of deer ears on either side of him.

Netflix’s smash-hit series Baby Reindeer is a mind-blowing true story about Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, who was relentlessly stalked by a woman for years. In the process of telling his story, it also reveals a traumatic event that occurred in his past. The underlying themes in the series hit hard, but it's also a cathartic story of damaged self-worth, loneliness, ambition, desperation, assault, and a system that often fails people.

Chances are you have probably already powered your way through the seven episodes of the black-comedy drama thriller. If you’re looking for something else to satiate your appetite while processing the disturbingly good show, put these three series on your radar to tackle next.
Beef (2023)

Read more
Everything you need to know about Cobra Kai season 6
Johnny and Robby Lawrence cheering in a restaurant in a scene from Cobra Kai season 5.

In 2018, Sony Pictures TV teamed up with YouTube Red to produce Cobra Kai, a sequel series to the hit Karate Kid films from the 1980s. Most notably, both of The Karate Kid's surviving primary stars, Ralph Macchio and William Zabka, signed on to reprise their respective roles as former rivals Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. The show picked up decades later, as Johnny revived the Cobra Kai dojo to turn his life around and mentor the next generation of martial arts enthusiasts. Daniel took that as a sign to start up his own dojo, and his rivalry with Johnny was born again.

Netflix picked up Cobra Kai after the second season, and the show has become an even bigger hit. Now, Cobra Kai is in production on its sixth and final season, but this series may not be the end of the Miyagi-verse that began in 1984 with The Karate Kid. Here's everything we know about Cobra Kai season 6 to prepare you for the new season.
What happened in Cobra Kai season 5?

Read more
Netflix debuts first teaser trailer for Cobra Kai season 6
The cast of Cobra Kai.

Netflix has grand plans for the final run of Cobra Kai, including the longest season to date with 15 episodes. But the downside of that news is that Cobra Kai season 6 is being split into three parts, and the last batch of episodes is being held back until 2025. In the meantime, the first teaser trailer for Cobra Kai season 6 has arrived. And while the trailer is light on story details, it's good to see the students of Johnny and Daniel's combined dojo training together again.

Cobra Kai Season 6 | Date Announcement | Netflix

Read more