Since the streaming service expanded into offering mobile games in 2021, it haspositioned itself as the future of Android gaming. Netflix has done this by acquiring exclusive publishing rights to original titles and sequels to popular franchises. While this exclusivity is frustrating to people who prefer to avoid subscriptions, the service offers excellent value for money, offering up some of thebest Android games without microtransactions or ads.
Until now, all games published through Netflix Games have been available across Android and iOS (though initial public testing was done on iOS), but Hades marks an unwelcome departure from that strategy. If Netflix repeats this strategy in the future, it could skip Android for future major releases, reconsigning the platform as a gaming backwater.
There is an argument to be made that Netflix is merely accommodating Supergiant’s trend of only releasing mobile ports on iOS. Bastion and Transister were released on iOS alongside other console ports without an Android release ever planned, so Hades' absence on Android would have been expected without Netflix’s intervention.
However, Netflix can bring unplanned ports to life. Into the Breach, another indie hit, was released on iOS and Android through Netflix Games four years after its original release in 2018. In aninterview with Touch Arcade, Developer Matthew Davis stated that had Netflix not intervened, “I think it’s extremely unlikely the mobile version would have ever been finished.”
At the time, we considered Netflix Games tohave the potential to revitalize the company’s fortunesalongside the state of Android gaming. Unfortunately, if the iOS port of Hades proves to be a success, we could see Netflix continue down the path of iOS exclusives, which is disappointing whenApple Arcade already offers a selection of high-quality games, vastly outshining Google’s Play Pass service.
Since the shutdown of Stadia, Google has given up all pretensions of offering a quality gaming service. Content to let the Play Store fill with cheap free-to-play games, it can be hard to findgood games on Android. This isn’t inevitable either; Apple showed us console-quality gaming is possible on mobile bybringing Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil Village to iOS.
Resident Evil 4 on an iPhone 15 Pro
So unless Google decides to reinvest in gaming (of which there is no evidence right now), the quality of Android’s games is in the hands of third parties like Netflix. Of course, Hades' iOS exclusivity is (for now) the exception rather than the rule. Last Halloween, Netflixreleased Dead Cells and all DLC, showing that you can still expect to receive popular games through your subscription. But Dead Cells was already on Android.
If Netflix continues to acquire mobile publishing rights to well-known games like Hades, there’s a real danger Hades is merely the first in a line of iOS-exclusive Netflix Games. Hopefully, Google will step up its gaming efforts and take advantage of thepowerful hardware available for Android devicesto deliver AAA games on mobile, or at the very least convince Netflix not to cut it out of future releases.
