Netflix said it is expanding its gaming initiative into a broader strategy centered on interactive entertainment, as the company seeks to merge storytelling with user participation.

Speaking during the company’s third-quarter 2025 earnings call, Co-Chief Executive Greg Peters said Netflix views its gaming efforts as part of a larger push to create new forms of interactive content.

According to The Verge, Peters said, “We’ve mostly talked so far about our work in this space as games because that’s an easy shorthand,” “But we see this initiative as more about interactivity broadly. How does interactivity become complementary to linear storytelling? How is it able to unlock whole new entertainment experiences?”

As part of the strategy, Netflix is testing real-time audience participation features such as voting. The company is currently piloting this format with Dinner Time Live With David Chang and plans to apply it to its upcoming Star Search revival in January 2026.

Peters said these experiments aim to integrate interactivity into live programming. “We expect to provide other interactive features to deepen engagement with live events as we go in the future,” he said, as reported by The Verge.

Netflix has also revised its gaming approach to focus on party-style multiplayer games that can be played on televisions using smartphones as controllers. Peters said, “These games are super easy to access.” “It’s just like our series and films. You scroll to the games tab, you pick whatever you want, click it, and you’re in. You don’t need a special controller; that’s key to this access.”

The company said it expects creators to develop new ways of using smartphones for interactive experiences. Peters said during the call that in the years ahead, “creators will really find interesting and novel ways to unlock all of the power that is in this incredibly advanced controller that we all happen to have in our pockets.”

Netflix has continued expanding its catalog of game titles, including those based on its original properties, games for children, and licensed mainstream titles such as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.

According to Peters, the company’s investment in interactivity aims to strengthen engagement across its ecosystem. “It not only extends the audience’s engagement with a story, but it creates a synergy that reinforces both mediums, the interactive and the non-interactive side,” he said, as cited by StreamTV Insider.

Netflix said it plans to increase investment in gaming “judiciously” and will assess its future direction based on audience response. Peters said the company remains “extremely excited about the progress we’ve got ahead of us.”

Industry analysts told Reuters that while Netflix’s gaming division remains a relatively small part of its business, the company’s efforts reflect its attempt to differentiate itself in a competitive streaming market.

Analysts added that the focus on smartphone-based interactivity could be particularly relevant in mobile-first markets such as South and Southeast Asia, where handheld devices dominate streaming consumption.