It\u2019s not the first time that companies have tried to blur the lines between gaming and leanback entertainment. But while prior efforts were largely focused on turning streaming devices into would-be game consoles, this new push focuses much more on casual gaming. Think Connect 4, not Counterstrike.<\/p>\n
Casual games have been a huge hit on mobile, where breakout hits like Candy Crush and Wordle, the uber-popular word game the New York Times acquired<\/a> in 2022, have turned hundreds of millions of people who would never describe themselves as gamers into habitual players. Can the same happen in the living room? And what does it take for streaming services to have their Worlde moment and launch a title that gets tens of millions of people to play every day?<\/p>\n For this week\u2019s edition of Lowpass, I chatted with Zone-ify\u2019s chief content officer John Orlando and Volley CEO Max Child to find out. I also spent a little too much time playing casual games on my TV \u2026<\/p>\n From Angry Birds to Bandersnatch<\/p>\n When I first heard about streamers adding casual games, I thought: here we go again.<\/p>\n Over the years, there have been many attempts to turn streaming into more than just passive entertainment. Roku, for instance, struck a partnership in 2011<\/a> to bring Angry Birds to its platform. At the time, Roku even released a limited-edition Angry Birds-themed streaming device.<\/p>\n Amazon released its first Fire TV device with an optional game controller<\/a> in 2014. And when Nvidia entered the streaming device market with the Nvidia Shield in 2015, it initially didn\u2019t even include a remote control in the box, with the company betting that the device would appeal to gamers first and foremost.<\/p>\n None of those efforts succeeded, for obvious reasons: hardcore gamers want powerful hardware and AAA titles, something that streaming devices simply couldn\u2019t offer. And people who buy a Roku do so primarily to watch TV, not to play mobile games in their living room.<\/p>\n Netflix\u2019s first attempt to expand beyond leanback viewing with interactive titles like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch failed, as well, in part because the titles lacked the stickiness and replayability of video games. \u201cAs a novelty, it\u2019s incredibly fun to do those interactive things,\u201d Orlando tells me. \u201cBut it\u2019s not something that you want to do all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGaming is different,\u201d Orlando says. \u201cYou\u2019re going to keep playing for hours, and you\u2019ll want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Chances are you\u2019ve never heard of Orlando\u2019s Zone-ify<\/a> service, which looks a bit like Tubi did 10 years ago: a few high-profile titles and lots of older catalog content you\u2019ll likely find elsewhere, as well.<\/p>\n At this point, the company\u2019s game library matches that vibe, with a bunch of knock-off versions of popular games like Connect 4 and Candy Crush, all of which can be played with a remote control. And yet, I quickly found myself sucked in, solving level after level in a game called Crazy Lot, which looks a lot like Rush Hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n To add games to streaming, Zone-ify partnered with ES3<\/a>, a company that has been building interactive advertising experiences for major media companies. However, this was the first time that a service used ES3\u2019s tech for gaming inside a free streaming app. \u201cI was shocked that there wasn\u2019t another ad-supported video service that was doing it,\u201d Orlando says.<\/p>\n Phones become dedicated second screens<\/p>\n Zone-ify didn\u2019t remain the only ad-supported service with casual games for very long. In late July, Future Today announced that it was adding puzzles, word games, and things like pool and air hockey to its Happykids and Fawesome apps on Roku devices. And some time later this year, Netflix is expected to launch a first crop of party games.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to reimagine what social engaging experiences can unfold in the living room,\u201d said Jeet Shroff, Netflix\u2019s vice president of game technology, at a Netflix Game Developers Conference event earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Netflix\u2019s party games are an extension of the company\u2019s massive push into gaming, which also includes dozens of mobile games and cloud gaming to bring AAA titles to the TV. Netflix did scale back some of its more ambitious indie gaming efforts and closed down<\/a> an in-house game studio last year. However, the company is still heavily invested in gaming as a whole, with its gaming head Alain Tascan telling reporters at the GDC event that Netflix was on its way to become the Netflix of gaming.<\/p>\n As part of those efforts, Netflix has built its own mobile game controller app<\/a>. In the context of party games, that controller is poised to become a dedicated second screen, complete with prompts and clues that could make things like multiplayer quizzes more fun. \u201cYou have information that perhaps is only available to you,\u201d Shroff said. \u201cThere\u2019s all this amazing social gameplay that can unfold.\u201d<\/p>\n Incorporating phones into TV-based game play works surprisingly well, according to Child, whose company Volley<\/a> has been building voice-centric multiplayer games for smart TVs. \u201cWe were worried about the friction of having people go get their phones,\u201d Child says. But in a world where people cling to their mobile devices all day, that worry turned out to be unfounded. \u201cWe found that people are happy to use their phone,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Volley makes use of phones to extend voice input to multiple players (few people own a TV with built-in far field microphones, and sharing a single voice remote can be awkward during a fast-paced game). For some games, they also offer dedicated controls: the company\u2019s Jeopardy<\/a> adaptation turns your smart phone into a buzzer, making the game feel a lot more like the real thing. \u201cIt really replicates that actual experience of being on the game show,\u201d Child says.<\/p>\n Volley\u2019s experience with games like Jeopardy seems to validate some of Netflix\u2019s ideas. \u201cThe live multiplayer family game night experience is really compelling,\u201d Child says. \u201cYou have kids playing with their parents, playing with their grandparents.\u201d And once they start, they keep playing. \u201cOur average session is well over an hour,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n However, Child also cautions that bringing games to the TV can\u2019t be a one-and-done kind of affair. Even for casual games, players want regular updates \u2014 something that may require streamers to treat games much like the rest of their content. \u201cIf a streaming service had only one show you wanted to watch, once you finished that show, you wouldn\u2019t come back,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n This is Lowpass by Janko Roettgers<\/a>, a column on the ever-evolving intersection of tech and entertainment, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.<\/p>\n <\/a>Follow topics and authors<\/strong> from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.<\/p>\n Lowpass author, Verge contributor<\/p>\n Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n PlusFollow<\/p>\n See All by Janko Roettgers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n PlusFollow<\/p>\n See All Column<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n PlusFollow<\/p>\n See All Gaming<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n PlusFollow<\/p>\n\n
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