Netflix ‘Open’ to Licensing Big Video Game Titles

variety.com:

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterNetflix co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos proudly said “Stranger Things” is “as valuable a franchise as exists today in entertainment around the world” during the company’s Q4 earnings presentation Thursday.

During the same pre-recorded Q&A, Netflix COO and chief product officer Greg Peters said while the streamer is very focused on its own titles, it’s still looking outside Netflix IP when it comes to building out a very young video games business.“It was exciting to see the activity in the space and I think, to some degree, it’s an endorsement of the core thesis that we have around subscription being a great model to connect consumers around the world with games and gaming experiences,” Peters said, when asked directly why Netflix isn’t making large acquisitions in the gaming space, following this week’s news that Microsoft is acquired Activision Blizzard in a deal valued at almost $70 billion. “We’re open to licensing/accessing large game IP that people will recognize,” he continued. “And I think you will [see] some of that happen over the year to come.” Earlier in the presentation, Sarandos used “Stranger Things,” which will debut its fourth season this summer, as Netflix’s “proof” it can build out a franchise “from whole cloth” versus “trying to tap into one that’s been building for 50 years.” Peters said that ability to take a Netflix title to the level where the company can “develop interactive experiences” around it is something the streamer sees as a “huge, longterm, multiyear opportunity.”“We’re very open and we’re going to be experimental and try a bunch of things,” Peters said.