Netflix’s plan to release games via iOS sees games appearing in the App Store, rather than being available via the video streaming service application, and they are also offered via Android.
The company officially launched its gaming subscriptions on November 3. This provides streaming service subscribers with access to a selection of games on Android.
Although it may take months before the same games are brought to iOS, the company almost certainly won’t be able to provide the feature in the same way, due to Apple’s App Store rules.
In his most recent Power On newsletter, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gorman said the streaming service may release all of its games under the initiative via the App Store.
While the games are then available to play from within the main platform app. But it will not provide the ability to download and play within the application.
Apple App Store rules prevent apps from becoming one-stop gaming hubs, which the Netflix app could become if it added game downloads to the app itself.
This has become a point of contention with cloud gaming services such as Microsoft’s xCloud, NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, and Google’s Stadia.
Cloud gaming services can only get around this by offering their games through a web app, as Facebook has done.
Although the current Android version of the service works this way. But the main service application is believed to allow downloading games via this platform in the near future.
Gorman thinks this method is the solution for iOS. But this solution won’t put the Netflix gaming service in the best position for success. Consumers tend to prefer all-in-one services.
Gorman concludes that this leaves the success of Netflix’s gaming experience to Apple, a longtime partner and growing competitor.
Getting around the limitation from the service requires moving to the cloud, as well as requiring Apple to either change its rules or grant the service an exemption.