

Video games have several characteristics that make them ill-suited to the Netflix model. Any of the players making (or contemplating) bets on such a seismic shift in distribution and consumption would be wise to keep in mind that video games have several characteristics that make them ill-suited to the Netflix model. globally in 2019-that the recent service launches are probably just the opening gambits.

Still, the stakes are so high-video games generated $120 billion in revenue 2 Dean Takahashi, “SuperData: Games hit $120.1 billion in 2019, with Fortnite topping $1.8 billion,” January 2, 2020,. Gaming’s unique consumption model and economics arguably make the challenge of altering consumer behavior to create all-you-can-eat offerings at massive scale a lot tougher than anything Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Netflix have faced. However, comparisons with the TV and film business don’t entirely hold up-digital subscriptions will not translate to video games easily. If subscription services were successful, power could shift from game studios and publishers to a few digital distribution giants with massive scale and market share-analogous to the rise of Netflix in digital video.

of a prospective Amazon offering, have caused widespread industry speculation that video-game distribution could move from the still-dominant à la carte model toward Netflix-style subscriptions. Recent announcements of new game-distribution services from Apple, Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Tencent, as well as reports 1 Seth Schiesel, “Amazon pushes into making video games, not just streaming their play,” New York Times, April 2, 2020,.
