Netflix may have finally figured out games

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Column ColumnPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Column Gaming GamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Gaming Streaming StreamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All StreamingNetflix may have finally figured out gamesThe new TV-based games feel right. by Andrew Webster Andrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Andrew WebsterMay 10, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC Image: Lego Party Column ColumnPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All Column Gaming GamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Gaming Streaming StreamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All StreamingNetflix may have finally figured out gamesThe new TV-based games feel right.

by Andrew Webster Andrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Andrew WebsterMay 10, 2026, 12:00 PM UTC Andrew Webster Andrew WebsterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game.

Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories. This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on Netflix, follow Andrew Webster.

Industry Implications

The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it startedBoggle has become a spectator sport in my household.

Everyone crowds around the TV while one of us plays, and the crowd either helps shout out words or waits patiently for their turn. There’s a lot of yelling. But it’s a game that my family can hop into easily, and once someone starts playing, it seems everyone slowly drifts into the room to join in.

The surprising part is that the experience is happening entirely through Netflix. The streaming giant has been trying to crack gaming for half a decade now, and outside of a few rare hits like Grand Theft Auto and Squid Game: Unleashed, it hasn’t made much of a dent. But with its relatively new TV games, which launched last year and include the likes of Boggle as well as party games based on everything from Lego to Knives Out, Netflix may have finally figured out gaming that makes sense for the service.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.