Netflix has kicked off its first public tests for its cloud-streamed games. Yesterday, users in Canada and the UK were able to start playing Netflix games streamed directly to their TVs, media boxes and on the official Netflix website.
Netflix says this test is very limited and open only to a small number of users. However, the company does have plans to expand the cloud gaming test in the weeks ahead.
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At the moment, there are only two games available to test. Members can play both Oxenfree and Molehaw’s Mining Adventure. When you play either of these games, they aren’t downloaded to your media box or TV. Instead, they are directly streamed from Netflix’s data centre to the app.
Members can then use their smartphone as a remote to control the game. On Android, the remote is available directly by launching the Netflix app while playing the game on the same network. iOS users need to download a separate Netflix Game Controller app and do the same thing. If you’re using the desktop platform, it then uses the mouse and keyboard.
Keep in mind that the Netflix cloud gaming test is only available in limited regions and platforms. Only certain TVs will support the beta too. Netflix released the list including:
- Amazon Fire TV streaming media players
- Chromecast with Google TV
- LG TVs
- Nvidia Shield TV
- Roku devices and TVs
- Samsung Smart TVs
- Walmart Onn
It is very unlikely that Netflix will roll this gaming feature out in South Africa which lies on the very bottom tip of the world. However, it is still exciting to see the company expand into gaming in more ways than one. Given Netflix’s unrivalled streaming quality, perhaps cloud gaming would be a possibility here. It all depends on the ping to the data centre. Too early to tell I guess.
Source: Netflix