In the past two decades, the wide availability of the internet has led to quite a few significant changes in the way we consume media. For one thing, streaming has largely overtaken any other way for media consumption, including theaters, DVDs/CDs, and television broadcasts. The streaming craze, as some have taken to calling it, is not just limited to films and television, however. Music streaming is the number one, most popular way to consume music, as many studies have shown. Spotify and Apple Music get a lot more clients than the average music shop, for example.
Streaming’s Effect on Gaming
The streaming craze has even affected industries that you absolutely would not expect would be affected by it. For example, the video game industry gets a ton of revenue from Twitch streams of popular, Triple A, and even indie video games. This development has led to the massive increase in popularity of eSports, or competitive pro-gaming, which has been a huge deal in the video game world.
Though it isn’t just mainstream video games that are affected. The so-called iGaming industry (or online casinos, as they are more commonly called) is experiencing a major boom in streaming, due to the huge success of live gambling. This entails a livestream of a dealer engaging in a game (most commonly Black Jack) with the audience. For those looking to check out a quality casino which has the live gambling feature, you can expect the best from Virgin Games, an online casino available in a number of countries worldwide.
The Titan in the Field
When speaking about streaming, it is impossible to not bring up Netflix. The company was founded in the late 1990s, as a production company, before moving on to online streaming in the early 2000s, and soon became an undisputed titan in the field of online streaming. Today, plenty of companies have launched their own streaming service, many imitating the Netflix model, yet despite it all, Netflix remains at the top, as the most popular.
While for most of their career, Netflix has focused on film and television, recently, the company has decided to expand their field of influence into the realm of video games. This isn’t much of a new development, as so-called “interactive films/shows” have been a part of Netflix for a long time now. However, in 2021, the company announced they will be adding video games to their roster of media. Many consider this a step in the right direction, and others still believe it to be a horrible mistake. In this next section, we are taking a look at the pros and the cons of a Netflix video game streaming service.
The Pros and Cons
For most people, the Netflix move to gaming seems to have caused excitement. However, there is quite a lot of folks out there who believe that mixing passive and active entertainment will have only negative results. Netflix has built their brand on relaxation. Sitting down, after a long day, cracking open a cold beverage, having a bite, and relaxing with a film or TV show. And while gaming is a popular hobby, it is not one for relaxation. Active entertainment is often time just as engaging as work, and many believe that the Netflix brand will not see much profit from incorporating that form of entertainment into their website.
As we said though, the vast majority of people seem to be excited for this development. After all, Netflix users will not be forced to play these games. They will merely remain there, as an option for those willing to try them out. At the end of the day, the success of this endeavor will rely on one simple thing; the quality of the games that Netflix will be able to license.
