• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

After two years of speculation, Netflix will now invite subscribers to play games on their smart TVs, announcing a slate of new gaming titles available directly through the streaming platform.

Advertising the new offering as a social experience among friends and family, especially in time for the holiday season, Netflix explains in a blog post that paying subscribers can simply "scroll to the 'Games' tab on your TV, pick a game and use your phone as the controller to join."

The streaming giant’s roster of available big-screen games embodies a group-centric experience, with “LEGO Party!” inviting friends to compete in minigames, and “Boggle Party” accessible to up to eight players.

Other games include "Pictionary: Game Night," "Tetris Time Warp" and "Party Crashers: Fool Your Friends," a "whodunit"-style game resemblant of "Clue."

Netflix’s launch of smart TV-accessible gaming comes after reports surfaced in 2023 regarding the transition of its mobile gaming offerings to a bigger screen. The following year, Alain Tascan, former executive vice president of game development at Epic Games, became Netflix's president of games and set a goal of eventually making Netflix games playable on any device.

"Being accessible instantaneously on any screen is the ultimate goal," Tascan said at the time. “I'm coming from a world where I've seen success by taking walls down. 'Fortnite' was one of the first games to really do cross-play, and I feel that was one of the big reasons for its success.

For now, Netflix's smart TV-accessible games are available on select TV screens in specific markets. The company plans to expand gaming availability over time.