July 2, 2025 6:00am PT

Netflix Games Purge No Cause for Concern

Netflix’s decision to cut its mobile games catalog by around 20% has cast some doubt on its overall strategy
However, only licensed titles were cut, a move already normal for its rotation of third-party films and series
Having left behind the pressure to enter AAA, a focus on internal IP for games and minding costs is the streamer’s best move

Last week, reports indicated Netflix will remove nearly two dozen titles from its gaming catalog by July 14, triggering a barrage of news reports and doom-leaning takes on mobile gaming as a whole.

Rest assured, this isn’t unusual for Netflix.

There being cause for concern among some is understandable, as the removals constitute around 20% of the streamer’s more than 120 game offerings. Some titles, such as “Carmen Sandiego,” were added as recently as January, while others including “Hades” were exclusive to Netflix’s mobile platform and not available on iOS or Android.

But these were all licensed titles, much like the steady rotation of film and TV programming Netflix borrows from other streamers licensing more of their content out as major studios cut costs.

Furthermore, these cuts are in line with previous strategic changes at Netflix under Alain Tascan, its new gaming head who took over games VP Mike Verdu’s post in 2024.

While licensed titles like several “Grand Theft Auto” games had delivered a significant boost of downloads for Netflix’s gaming app at the start of the year, efforts to associate Netflix with other players in the console space was still a challenge, especially without the kind of in-game spending models that have transformed brands like “Grand Theft Auto” into live-service powerhouses.

Free-to-play titles are very much the norm for mobile and are often intended as forever games that can deliver consistent revenue streams.

If you’re Netflix, your 300 million subscribers would never expect to have to pay more than a monthly fee to access everything the service has to offer. As such, Tascan shut down Netflix’s studio working on a multiplayer shooter that would have undoubtedly needed some kind of built-in revenue stream to support its costly development.

Tascan has since indicated games tied to Netflix’s existing programming are the way forward, in terms of both what currently works for Netflix Games and what Netflix can innovate within smaller gaming experiences.

Take “Squid Game: Unleashed,” which launched on the service in December, ahead of the second season of Netflix’s most popular original series to date. The following January, Sensor Tower showed the game ranked 7th among the most downloaded mobile games worldwide, ahead of “Roblox” that month.

“Squid Game: Unleashed” has proven an ideal use case for tinkering with further updates, as the streamer added more new content to the title in accordance with the show’s third and final season last Friday.

Without the pressure of striving for gamers to perceive Netflix as a big AAA player, continuing to mind the cost of Netflix’s gaming expenses is the right move.