The company had previously talked about adding a social element to its dedicated gaming space
If you’re a Netflix user, it’s almost impossible to have missed the company’s cloud gaming venture — Netflix Games. It’s available to subscribers within the standalone Netflix app, which is convenient. However, given that people are chilling out with movies and serial content, the branch out to gaming hasn’t struck a chord with many. But the company appears to be steadfast in its approach with recent reports of the streaming giant looking to bring on multiplayer gaming, perhaps in a bid to increase engagement. We’re now learning about the inclusion of “game handles,” courtesy of some hidden code within the app.
These are personalized, public usernames displayed to other Netflix Games players either within a multiplayer game or on public leaderboards. The discovery was first made by developer Steve Moser and later reported by TechCrunch. However, gamers would only be able to choose from numbers and letters for their game handles, so you can forget about setting your name to /Demon_Slayer1997/ or something along those lines unless Netflix has a change of heart.
The newly uncovered code also reveals that the user’s original profile name or icon won’t be visible within Netflix Games, which is a crucial privacy safeguard for any multiplayer gaming platform. Game handles first made it to Into The Breach in mid-July, while titles like Bowling Ballers, Mahjong Solitaire, and Heads Up! have since received support for personalized usernames. A different section of the code talks about users being able to have an online badge on their profile while also enabling other Netflix Games users to invite them to a multiplayer game.
Recent developments illustrate that Netflix wants to take its gaming experiment to the next level, which is currently limited to single-player titles. The company acquired gaming studios including Night School Studio, Next Games, and Boss Fight Entertainment not too long ago, making it clear that there could be a more significant push toward gaming soon.
