Netflix today announced the launch of Netflix Games for iOS, one week after rolling out the feature on Android devices. Netflix Games, included with a Netflix subscription, allows users to play a handful of games on their mobile devices.
Available gaming titles include "Stranger Things: 1984," "Stranger Things 3: The Game," "Shooting Hoops," "Card Blast," and "Teeter Up."
Accessing games on Netflix requires a Netflix subscription, and there are no ads, additional fees, or in-app purchases, which is how Apple's gaming service, Apple Arcade, operates. Netflix is releasing each game as an individual app on the App Store while allowing users to see the full catalog of games in the Netflix app, which is well within Apple's App Store rules for gaming subscription services.
Netflix Games is coming to iOS! Starting tomorrow, you can access Netflix Games through the Netflix app on any mobile device, anywhere in the world. pic.twitter.com/LoHYFi4xBX — Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) November 9, 2021
With this method, Apple is able to individually approve each of the games that Netflix submits to the App Store. Games will appear on the Home screen of an iOS device and within the Netflix mobile app, and will require authentication with Netflix to play.
As noted by Bloomberg, the games that Netflix have introduced include an option to subscribe to Netflix using an in-app purchase. With this method, Apple receives a 30 percent cut of the money that Netflix collects from subscribers (after a year, Apple's cut drops to 15 percent).
The main Netflix app has not offered an in-app purchase subscription option for several years now to allow Netflix to avoid paying Apple's fees. With each game, Netflix asks users to sign in with an existing account or sign up for a new account, and the sign-up process uses the in-app purchase system. A standard plan is priced at $13.99 per month through the game apps, which is the same price as the plan when signing up on the web.
Netflix Games are available individually on the iOS App Store at this time, and starting tomorrow, the games will be listed in the Netflix app. As with the Android rollout, iPhone and iPad users will see a dedicated games row where they can select games to access.
