Pictures: AnnaPuna, Netflix, Ninja Kiwi, Rockstar Games
In November 2021, Netflix ventured into a brand-new medium—gaming. While it had previously experimented with game production and distribution, it had never launched games within its own ecosystem. Fast-forward nearly four years, and Netflix’s gaming library has expanded to over 100 mobile titles and more than a dozen on its cloud gaming platform. However, as we’ve been reporting, things are changing. So, where is Netflix Games headed next, and what does the data reveal?
Over the past six months, Netflix Games has made headlines, but not always for the right reasons. It all started with the closure of a major AAA studio and then the news that they’re pushing into AI gaming (which went down like a plate of cold sick). Then, in December, Netflix removed over a dozen titles from its catalog. January brought more disappointing news as Netflix canceled several upcoming games, including Crashlands 2, Tales of the Shire, Don’t Starve Together, Lab Rat, and several others. That’s in addition to recent layoffs at one of their internal studios.
What is actually working for Netflix Games? Are there signs of a shifting strategy? Despite setbacks, is Netflix making adjustments? Let’s take a closer look at what’s working and what that means for the future of games on Netflix.
What are Netflix’s most popular games?
Unfortunately, Netflix does not provide long-term concrete data on its mobile games. However, we can gather insights from a few different sources to determine what’s currently working on Netflix Games.
One key indicator is the Top 10 Mobile Games row, which occasionally appears in the Netflix mobile app. This ranking is believed to be based on daily engagement, offering the best glimpse into which games are attracting the most playtime.
This list updates daily, though, from our observations, it doesn’t tend to change significantly day-to-day. For example, the only recent shift was CIV 7, which moved into 10th place yesterday. Here’s what the list looks like as of February 24th:
- Solitaire
- GTA: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition
- Squid Game: Unleashed
- Football Manager 2024
- Bloons TD 6
- Netflix Stories
- Word Trails
- Too Hot To Handle 3
- Storyteller
- Sonic Mania Plus
Picture: Netflix App
What about downloads? SensorTower is our best tool for that information, as they provide downloads for the last 30 days. Of course, there are pitfalls with data like this. Much like the daily Netflix top 10, it only provides a snapshot of what’s popular right now and not representative of overall downloads. It’s also not as important as engagement, but we’ve observed that the two do overlap.
Their data does provide downloads over the last 30 days, so what was the most downloaded between January 24th and February 24th? 36 titles acquired over 50,000 downloads (full sheet here), with 22 getting over 100,000 downloads in a single month. For context, Netflix’s main app gets around 14 million monthly downloads on Android and iOS.
| Game Name | Android Downloads | iOS Downloads | Last 30 Day Totals |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTA: San Andreas – NETFLIX | 900K | 1M | 1.9M |
| Squid Game: Unleashed | 500K | 1,000K | 1.5M |
| Storyteller Game | 300K | 200K | 500K |
| Too Hot to Handle 3 | 200K | 300K | 500K |
| Sonic Mania Plus – NETFLIX | 300K | 100K | 400K |
| Bloons TD 6 NETFLIX | 200K | 200K | 400K |
| Civilization VI: NETFLIX | 100K | 300K | 400K |
| Carmen Sandiego NETFLIX | 200K | 100K | 300K |
| Farming Simulator 23 NETFLIX | 200K | 100K | 300K |
| Netflix Stories | 100K | 200K | 300K |
| Sonic Prime Dash | 200K | 80K | 280K |
| Football Manager 2024 Mobile | 100K | 100K | 200K |
| SpongeBob: Get Cooking | 100K | 90K | 190K |
| Snake.io NETFLIX | 100K | 80K | 180K |
| Classic Solitaire NETFLIX | 90K | 70K | 160K |
| Monument Valley NETFLIX | 60K | 100K | 160K |
| Secrets by Episode NETFLIX | 60K | 100K | 160K |
| Asphalt Xtreme | 100K | 40K | 140K |
| Dead Cells: Netflix Edition | 90K | 50K | 140K |
| Monument Valley 3 NETFLIX | 20K | 100K | 120K |
| Ludo King NETFLIX | 100K | 9K | 109K |
| Scriptic Netflix Edition | 30K | 70K | 100K |
| HELLO KITTY HAPPINESS PARADE | 60K | 30K | 90K |
| Into the Dead 2: Unleashed | 50K | 40K | 90K |
| Twelve Minutes | 40K | 40K | 80K |
| Dumb Ways to Survive NETFLIX | 30K | 50K | 80K |
| Monument Valley 2 NETFLIX | 20K | 60K | 80K |
| TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge | 40K | 30K | 70K |
| Word Trails NETFLIX | 40K | 30K | 70K |
| Pinball Masters NETFLIX | 40KK | 20K | 60K |
| TRANSFORMERS Forged to Fight | 40K | 20K | 60K |
| Exploding Kittens NETFLIX | 30K | 30K | 60K |
| Katana ZERO NETFLIX | 30K | 30 | 60K |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon NETFLIX | 20K | 40K | 60K |
| Hades | N/A | 50K | 50K |
What about the overall most downloaded titles? Fortunately, the Google Play Store provides a broad ranking of the most downloaded games, allowing us to analyze Netflix’s library based on these figures.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, games that have been available the longest tend to dominate this list, benefiting from extended exposure and accumulated downloads over time. Let’s break down Netflix’s library according to these download ranges.
What’s working for Netflix Mobile Games?
Given the stats above, what exactly is working? I’d categorize the successes into several key buckets, though it’s important to note that there are certainly exceptions for each. .
Big IP with Big Player or Fan Bases
It’s no surprise that Grand Theft Auto is Netflix’s biggest game. As one of the most successful video game franchises in history, securing all three titles was a major win for the platform. Other high-performing games, such as Bloons TD, Football Manager, Farming Simulator, SpongeBob, and Sonic, also benefit from strong name recognition and long-established fanbases. These franchises already have dedicated player bases, making them easy wins for Netflix.
Netflix IP
Squid Game: Unleashed stands out as Netflix’s biggest internally developed game to date, and this strategy of releasing a big tie-in game is expected to expand significantly in 2025. The inclusion of Netflix Stories as one of the most engaged titles makes perfect sense, given its regular updates and well-timed content drops. Dating sims based on Netflix’s reality series also seems to be a continued winner – hence the number of releases! The strategy seems to be clear. Is there a major Netflix show or movie release on the horizon? Capitalize on that momentum by launching a game while it’s still fresh in the audience’s mind. Netflix can also actively build gaming communities (and be in full control) around these games, which has worked particularly well with Squid Game: Unleashed.
Simple Games (SEO Optimized too!)
It’s amusing that Solitaire is Netflix’s most-played game on any given day, but sometimes, simplicity is key. What works—works. This game also benefits from strong SEO optimization, making it highly discoverable in the Play Store and iOS App Store without requiring direct interaction with Netflix.
What’s not working as well? Indie games, as a whole, seem to be the biggest losers (with Storyteller being the main outlier) from the lists above, and also, surprisingly, in my eyes, puzzle games. The match-3 games arguably have defined mobile gaming, but they just don’t seem to capture the same audiences when you’re not being bombarded with micro-transactions and ads…
What’s Next for Netflix Games?
Netflix’s evolution in gaming, with its peaks and troughs, mirrors its expansion into animation in my opinion. When Netflix first entered the animation space, it poured money into various projects and talent to see what would stick. It was a Golden Age. Once it gained a clearer understanding of the landscape—or external circumstances played a role—it began prioritizing and pulling back in specific areas. For animation, this meant scaling back riskier projects without strong IP backing while increasing investments in pay-1 deals with Universal and Sony to secure their animation output. Netflix is still investing in animation, but its approach looks significantly different from when it first entered the space.
While mobile has been the primary focus of Netflix Games up to this point, all signs suggest that the next major expansion will be into gaming on TV. The Cloud Beta streaming initiative has been ongoing for some time, but job listings and statements from top Netflix executives indicate that this is the next key area of development. Additionally, it’s still early days for AI, and its potential impact on Netflix Games remains uncertain.
Like Apple Arcade, Netflix Games will continue to evolve, adjusting its strategy based on engagement and market response. As gaming expands onto the big screen, we can expect similar refinements along the way.
At its core, Netflix’s number one goal across its business is actually really simple—engagement. The more time users spend watching and playing, the more likely they are to maintain their subscriptions. Currently, Netflix’s engagement strategy is built on two pillars: TV and movies, which have solidified its position as the world’s leading streaming service. The question now is whether it can establish “live” content and gaming as equally important pillars. Time will tell.
