When Netflix first announced its foray into gaming, most people were surprised and said that it would never work. The initial launch occurred in November 2021, when they began offering a range of mobile-only video games as part of their subscription service.
Some of those earlier games included Teeter Up, Stranger Things: 1984, Card Blast, and Shooting Hoops. The aim was never to compete with today’s major gaming platforms. Instead, it was intended to simply branch out and provide a new element of entertainment for users and grow the Netflix brand.
With that said, let’s dive straight in and take a closer look at why Netflix entered the gaming sector and how it has been working out for them so far.
Why is Netflix so committed to games in 2025?
The main reason Netflix took a foray into gaming is that there is a huge amount of money to be made in this sector of the digital entertainment industry.
Adding games would hopefully attract new players and help retain existing members by providing them with a fun form of entertainment that users can try between watching their favorite movies and television shows. The aim was to enhance and enrich user engagement and hopefully generate additional revenue in the process.
At one point, Netflix was losing subscribers at record levels, so they had to try something new.
However, most people said that they should focus on providing better TV shows and movies rather than games. The company has spent millions trying to make its new gaming service a success, and it’s still in its early days, so it’s too hard to say whether it will succeed or not.
Initially, the games were only available on iOS and Android mobile devices, but as of February 2025, the service has since expanded, and subscribers can also play over 20 different titles on their smart TVs, desktop computers, and laptops using their TV remote, keyboard and mouse, or touchpad as a controller.
Netflix subscribers can play instantly in their web browser across the internet, or they can download the games and play without having to be connected to the internet.
It’s a cross-platform gaming service that saves your progress in the games you play on any of your preferred devices, and they are saved to an individual’s Netflix profile, either through cloud services or locally on your PC, laptop, mobile, or smart TV devices.
There are now over 70 Netflix games, and fresh new content is regularly added to this service. The games are all included in the price of your subscription.
What can I play on Netflix games?
The main categories include, in no particular order of importance, action, adventure, strategy, simulation, racing, role-playing, sports, tabletop, card, music, puzzle, racing, and puzzle games.
The tabletop and card games aren’t like the ones you can play in Canada on the best paying online casino websites, so if you’re specifically looking for poker, blackjack, baccarat, and other classic favorites, unfortunately, you won’t find them on Netflix Games.
Instead, you can find games like Solitaire, Mahjong Solitaire, The Queen’s Gambit Chess, Hearts NETFLIX, Exploding Kittens, Card Blast, and Arcanium: Rise of Akhan.
Some of the most popular titles to keep an eye out for in 2025 on Netflix Games are the following:
- Squid Game: Unleashed
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Rainbow Six: SMOL
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
- Asphalt Xtreme
Some of these games are suitable for all ages, whereas others come with specific age ratings, including some that are only suitable for ages 10 and up, 13 and up, 17 and up, or 18 and up, so always check that whoever in your household uses your Netflix account/profile is old enough to play.
Alternatively, don’t forget that you can also set up profile maturity ratings or block specific titles to ensure that anyone who isn’t old enough to play can’t even see the age-restricted games.
Honourable mentions
If you enjoy playing any of these top 5 Netflix games and want more similar suggestions on your desktop computer or smart TV, then you may also like to try various other hit titles, such as The Electric State: Kid Cosmo, Emily in Paris, Football Manager, Civilization VI, Word Trails, and Sonic Mania Plus.
That’s not forgetting Rollercoast: Tycoon Touch, Pinball Masters, Battleship, Farming Simulator, Bloons TD 6, Snake.io, Scryptic: Crime Stories, Too Hot to Handle 4, TED Tumblewords, and Sonic Prime Dash, to name just a few.
When that first wave of games arrived on Netflix back in late 2021, they were rather crude, and not many people played them. However, today, the games are so much better and appeal to a wide range of online gamers, most of which are developed by third-party studios, not in-house. Only a handful of titles have been built internally.
Since launching, there have been over 210 million Netflix Games downloads across the globe. Downloads climbed from 28.7 million in 2022 to an incredible 81 million the following year, making 2023 one of Netflix Games’ best years to date.
According to recent reports, the popular new Netflix game GTA: San Andreas, has been downloaded over 25 million times. The Storyteller and Spongebob are also among the top downloaded games on the Netflix platform, and experts predict that these numbers will continue to climb for the foreseeable future.
Final thoughts
Netflix has found a gaming strategy that is starting to work. It focuses on crafting unique titles based on their original TV shows and movies.
It is also focusing on extending engagement with its IP by developing what has been described as a ‘virtuous cycle’ between its linear content and game offerings.
In other words, the Netflix Games service is here to stay, although less than 1% of Netflix subscribers actually play any of their games on a daily basis.
