Netflix has taken a step forward by presenting its new gaming platform. With that stands for other services like Apple Arcade. Netflix has commented that its aim is not to compete with Sony or Xbox, its games will be aimed at casual players and this could impact platforms like Apple Arcade more.

Play Netflix games on your TV with your iPhone as a controller

This is Netflix’s idea, being able to play the games they offer on their platform using the iPhone as a controller. Undoubtedly, it adds a somewhat innovative touch to the experience, though we’ll have to see how effective it is.

The company has been working quietly for several years and has developed a catalog about 70 video game titles for your platform, and the game will now be available to all Netflix subscribers. The goal is for games on the platform to be accessible from any device. That’s why last week they launched the App Netflix Game Controller for iOS and Android. So now you can access Netflix games from your TV as well as from your iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone.

For several months, a few lucky users in Canada and the UK were able to access the platform and play two games from the catalog directly from their television via Netflix. The two games tested are “Cow Free” and “Molehew Mining Adventure”, an arcade style game about mining precious gems. During the testing time, the platform can collect important performance and error information to improve the service.

The best part is that the gaming experience on this TV doesn’t require purchasing an additional controller. Instead, we can use a device that we often carry with us, our smartphone.

play games in the cloud

This new service is based on technology from cloud gamemeaning the user’s streaming device doesn’t have to shoulder the brunt of rendering the game.

In addition to the gaming experience on your television, Netflix subscribers will also be able to access their game library from their Mac, or their Windows computer. This will be possible via a web browser, accessing Netflix.com and using a computer keyboard and mouse as controllers.

Although the app is now available for iOS and Android, we will have to wait a bit to enjoy this feature on Mac According to a statement by the Vice President of Netflix, beta testing of the gaming experience on Mac is scheduled to begin “in the coming weeks”. It goes to show that while the expansion of Netflix games to new devices is well underway, there’s still a bit of a wait to fully enjoy the experience across all platforms.