As part of its Geeked Week, Netflix released a slew of announcements this week. There were a few announcements concerning the platform’s slowly developing game and game-adjacent products within the flurry of reveals of The Sandman, The Umbrella Academy season 3, One Piece, and more.
A small trailer for Cuphead season 2 was released by Netflix ahead of its August premiere, showcasing more of Ms. Chalice (voiced by Grey DeLisle), who made a brief appearance at the close of the first season. The third season of DOTA: Dragon’s Blood will also be available on Netflix in August. Tekken, the fighting game known for hurling children off cliffs, is getting its own anime, Tekken: Bloodline.
Netflix revealed a small preview of Sonic Prime, its newest hedgehog-based show, ahead of Sonic Origins later this June and Sonic Frontiers at some unspecified later date in 2022.
Castlevania: Nocturne, a game-based animated series in development, will follow Richter Belmont.
With many products based on its series, Netflix is single-handedly ushering in the rebirth of licensed games. There’s a Queen’s Gambit chess game, a Shadow and Bone RPG, a La Casa de Papel robbery adventure, and a Too Hot to Handle game that appears to be one of those “choose your own adventure,” soap-opera-style games in which a pregnant woman must choose between murder her unfaithful ex or forgiving him.
Riot’s rhythm platformer Hextech Mayhem debuted exclusively on Netflix last year, and the streaming site is now adding many games from famous independent developer Devolver Digital. Reigns: Three Kingdoms is a card game in which players decide the fate of Three Kingdoms-era China by swiping left or right on cards depicting unique events, decisions, and tragic interactions with historical individuals. Spiritfarer, the “cozy game about death” that made everyone cry in 2020, will now be available on Netflix, along with the entertaining Raji: An Ancient Epic. Poinpy, a vertical climber created by the creator of Downwell and released by Devolver Digital, is now available on Netflix.
Desta: The Recollections Between, from the creators of Monument Valley, is a turn-based strategy game set in dreams and memories.
Lucky Luna, developed by Snowman of Alto’s Adventure and Skate City, will also be added to the streaming service soon.
Netflix is gradually expanding its offers beyond dinky mobile games with these titles — it hopes to have 50 available by the end of the year — and maybe a major platform for indies looking to grow into the mobile market. It appears to be taking its role as a game platform very seriously.
