Link: Daily

Everybody’s getting into gaming right now. The New York Times, LinkedIn, YouTube, and now possibly even Uber are offering games as a part of their services in order to drive subscriptions and user engagement. For some, it’s working. For others, not so much. A lot of these gaming initiatives feel like they’re just being tacked on to whatever service, like how your favorite Chinese takeout restaurant also has fries and chicken wings.But Netflix is unique in that, even though it’s not a gaming company, its products do lend themselves to a specific kind of highly popular but underserved gaming experience. “We’ve seen a lot of success with interactive fiction games like Selling Sunset, Perfect Match, and The Ultimatum,” Loombe said in an interview with The Verge.Reality television shows are still one of the most popular kinds of entertainment. They’re relatively cheap to produce and are uniquely positioned to create the kinds of high-drama moments that go viral on social media. And with popular shows, its audience is naturally incentivized to seek out related content. Netflix’s gaming offerings are poised to take advantage of that same phenomenon. Because where a Fallout fan has to go outside Amazon to play the games (or, as Amazon vainly hopes, use its cloud gaming service Luna) Netflix’s games channel the enthusiasm of a show’s community right back into the app, creating what Loombe calls a seamless “connective tissue between the TV show and the game.” In this new economy of attention, where companies are competing to have as many eyeballs on their apps or services as possible, that Netflix fans don’t have to leave the app to continue their fandom experiences is potentially a huge advantage. #

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