Netflix game streaming is coming to your Chromecast with Google TV, PC, and more

I’ve been critical of Netflix’s attempts to transition from a movie streaming service to a game publisher and provider. I stand by my feelings on that, but I can at least admire the company’s efforts over the past few years. It’s been no slouch in its attempts to build its catalog and its features surrounding games since 2021, and today is no different. Announced on its blog, Netflix is running a limited beta test to let you play stream games on all devices you can watch Netflix – your TV, computer, and even your phone.

The test will initially be available on specific TV brands, with support for PCs and Macs through Netflix.com on supported browsers coming in the next few weeks. Sorry my USA folks, not for us just yet, this is for Canada and the UK. Among the games included are Oxenfree from Night School Studio (spun up by Netflix itself), and Molehew’s Mining Adventure, a gem-mining-style game.

Interestingly, the company is also now offering a mobile app that lets you use your phone as a game controller for these titles and others available on the service. For those using a PC, mouse and keyboard support is being added for games played through the browser on Netflix.com. I imagine this also means Chromebook users can cloud game stream on Netflix’s website now that Stadia is gone. It’s not even close to the same thing, but hey.

You’ll be able to play on your Amazon Fire TV-powered devices, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart ONN. Netflix plans to keep adding support for more devices over time.

What do you think? I guess I should be grateful that not everyone has given up on cloud streaming and that they have more than just arcade-style games. Oxenfree is a great game, and the more places indie developers can have their art, the better, right? Sound off in the comments and let me know if you’ll try this out when you get access.