Netflix in talks for a ‘Grand Theft Auto’ spin-off game
Netflix is seeking an opportunity to bring a “higher-end” Grand Theft Auto spin-off to the subscription service, according to a recent report.
The Wall Street Journal stated that it spoke to sources familiar with Netflix’s strategy who have claimed that the company has been in talks with Take-Two Interactive.
While the discussions are seemingly still ongoing, the idea is to “release a game within the popular action-adventure series Grand Theft Auto… through a licensing deal”.
There are also intentions to develop and launch games inspired by Black Mirror, Extraction, Squid Game and Wednesday, continued The Wall Street Journal‘s sources.
In order to expand into gaming, Netflix has acquired studios like Boss Fight Entertainment, Next Games, Night School Studio and Spry Fox in the last few years. This is alongside the opening of two new gaming studios in California and Finland in 2022.
Additionally, it’s thought that Netflix has spent approximately £822million ($1billion) on its gaming strategy thus far.
However, gaming is not a niche that Netflix has all to itself. The Wall Street Journal made mention of the fact that Netflix does not generate revenue from its games and subscribers have access to them at no extra charge on top of their particular plan.
The app tracker Apptopia estimated that fewer than one per cent of its 238 million subscribers are playing games on a daily basis. A Grand Theft Auto spin-off might change that trend, but commentators aren’t so sure.
“Would a non-gamer play a Netflix game?” said Judah Silver, who works with game developers as one of United Talent Agency’s agents, in the report. “That is the big question.”
In other gaming news, Apex Legends and Post Malone revealed an upcoming event inspired by the singer-songwriter, arriving in November.
The post Netflix in talks for a ‘Grand Theft Auto’ spin-off game appeared first on NME.
Imogen Donovan
NME
