According to reports, streaming giant Netflix is developing a feature that would let users use their iPhones to control games on their TVs.
The news follows a report from Bloomberg and a code shared by writer Steve Moser. It also emerges after Leanne Loombe, Netflix’s VP of external games, told The Verge earlier this month that they want to make their games “playable on every Netflix device that you have”. She also revealed, “How the mobile app stores and the streaming comes together is something that we are continuing to work out and plan for.”
As for Moser’s side of the new story, he tweeted what appeared to be a screenshot of the iOS app that allegedly contains a code, saying: “A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?”
Netflix launched its mobile games service late in 2021 and has released 55 games so far, with 40 more scheduled for the rest of 2023. However, the games are only playable on iOS and Android devices and are not available on TVs or laptops.
Commentators have posited that using a phone as a controller might be a way for the streamer to dodge having to release a dedicated game controller, as Google did for its failed Stadia service.