Netflix got into gaming last fall, hiring Facebook gaming executive, Mike Verdu, to lead its expansion, acquiring indie developer Night School Studio, and releasing a slate of games including, 2 Stranger Things titles, Shooting Hoops, Card Blast, and Teeter Up. For now, kids Netflix accounts cannot access games (unless a parent sets up a PIN for access). In January 2022, Netflix released a card adventure made by Rogue Games, Acrcanium: Rise of Akhan. But the most exciting statement we heard came from Netflix COO Greg Peters, who was quoted discussing licensing large game IP and making games based on Netflix original content. How about a game based on House of Cards? If you are a Spotify user, then you can access music and podcasts tied to Netflix shows and movies on the Netflix Hub. Use of the Hub is limited to U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Ireland and India territories.
NBCUniversal proposed pulling content from Hulu, in which it owns a portion of an interest, to stream on its Peacock service instead. The company has been striving to find ways of driving subscriptions to the struggling streaming service (it had roughly 20mm active users in Q2 2021). Last fall, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group announced it would be sending films to Peacock as early as 45 days from release, beginning with their 2022 film slate. This window sits in contrast to the pandemic-era 17-day window (which included a PVOD tier of $19.99/ rental). However, in February, Universal Pictures released Marry Me (Jennifer Lopez) day and date on Peacock and in 3,600 theaters. Warner Bros. and Paramount are also reportedly observing the 45-day window.
