Netflix Inc.’s foray into gaming is raising more eyebrows than excitement among analysts.
Though there’s long been speculation that Netflix might move into video games, Wednesday’s news that it had hired an executive to lead the effort — and would start adding titles to its streaming platform in the next year — came as a surprise to many. The Los Gatos, California-based company doesn’t have the infrastructure or the expertise to create or support top-tier games, analysts said. And that capability won’t be easy to build.
"They don’t have a game catalog — they haven’t cultivated a base of gamers in their audience,” said Lewis Ward, research director for gaming at IDC. "And they don’t have an internal studio or infrastructure to handle a service.”