Speaking in San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference this week, Netflix Games President Alain Tascan discussed how its gaming content can keep the platform’s 700 million-plus customers entertained between seasons. “We are not yet the Netflix of games, but that is where we are headed,” the executive said, calling gaming “the biggest shift in entertainment in the last 30 years.” In light of global youth’s involvement with games, “we see we need to be there,” Tascan said. Netflix added its first mobile games in 2021 and has since expanded by purchasing video game studios and building one from scratch.

“Games bring a sense of achievement. Games have also a strong sense of community,” writes VentureBeat of the ways in which the interactive format complements linear entertainment.

Joining Tascan onstage was Jeet Shroff, Netflix VP of games technology and portfolio development. “Before arriving at Netflix, both worked on ‘Fortnite’ at Epic Games,” VentureBeat points out.

Among the new games coming to Netflix is one from Spry Fox called “Spirit Crossing,” said to strive for the warmth and imagination of director Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy “Spirited Away.” And coinciding with the third season of “Squid Game” is an update of the game tie-in “Squid Game Unleashed.”

Variety describes “Spirit Crossing” as “a new co-op life-simulation game” to be launched later this year by “Spry Fox, the Netflix-owned game studio behind ‘Cozy Grove,’ ‘Triple Town’ and ‘Alphabear.’”

“Prepare to adventure into a joyful world with ‘Spirit Crossing,’ a massively cooperative life sim designed to encourage friendship and make the world feel a little less lonely,” Netflix writes in an announcement, describing how friends will work together to “nurture your village” by building and decorating, having dance parties and wilderness adventures.

Game Developer says Netflix Games has had a rocky road to its current point, with Tascan — who in June 2024 replaced outgoing Netflix game chief Mike Verdu — seeking “to drive real disruption and real innovation with regards to how games are distributed, on what platforms, how we interact with them, and how we engage with the community” as a way to carve its own identity in the sector.