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The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of…
So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we’ve created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.
Craig Chapple
Head of Content
Netflix Stories cancelled as streaming firm focuses on new games strategy
I was surprised this week to see that Netflix has cancelled its Netflix Stories ambitions.
It seemed to match what is now its new strategy of leveraging its IP and one of the core pillars: narrative-driven experiences. With 6.9 million downloads, it’s not setting the world alight, particularly with players in the genre known for their rapid content churn.
But the idea seemed like the right fit for Netflix, particularly in an interactive story sub-genre that has seen revenue rise to record levels during the last quarter, according to Sensor Tower estimates.
But clearly the streaming firm has seen enough and put an end to its previous plans. It’s still active in the genre – the company just soft-launched Single’s Inferno: Choices in partnership with Series Entertainment and Pixelberry.
I’m curious to see where we are a year from now with Netflix’s games division and just how that focus on narrative games actually fits into its future.
Clash of Clans developer Supercell wants to bring top IP to film and TV
Supercell’s latest job posting shows the developer is ready to launch its billion-dollar franchises into film and TV. Honestly, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner
The term the company is using is “world-building”, which would make me think it’s not just looking at adapting one of its IPs in a one-off show, but something the firm can continue to build up.
We have already seen Supercell go big with its adverts for Squad Busters, and I know that doing a show based on your IPs is an entirely different level. But it’s fun to see the developer making the leap since many of the game IPs to television and film we have seen in the past come from console or PC-based games. To me, it makes sense for Supercell to explore this new avenue.
Looking at examples like The Last of Us, when the first season aired, the first game returned to the top of the charts and had a massive surge in sales. If whatever film or TV show you make with a game IP is popular, you’re going to attract attention to your game.
I’m curious to see what exactly it is that Supercell comes out with. CEO IIlka Paananen recently shared some thoughts on the company’s history where he mentioned how hard it is to launch a new game in the modern games landscape, and his advice was to “go crazy and create something that doesn’t exist”. I wonder if that statement will hold true when it comes to Supercell’s transmedia ambitions.
Nintendo Switch 2 launches June 5th with GameChat, GameShare, new mobile support and more
Earlier this week we finally got a good look at the Nintendo Switch 2 via the latest Direct, with a full hour of hardware specs and game reveals. These details came close to a year after the initial Switch “successor” tease and the wait didn’t feel any shorter after the console teaser in January.
Now, all of a sudden, the Switch 2 is almost here. With a launch date of June 5th, 2025 and a simultaneous release for Mario Kart World – and digital-only Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, for those so inclined – the wait really is almost over.
Down the line, Nintendo fans can also expect to get their hands on Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby Air Riders and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the latter being of most interest to me personally. And of course, there are also the enhanced versions of original Switch games.
However, the price points are nearly unanimously contentious, especially for the games themselves, with Mario Kart World now confirmed at a £74.99 price point physically and £66.99 digitally. Whether this sets a new precedent remains to be seen, but a physical/special split of this kind is bound to reignite game preservation conversations once again.
On the hardware side, at least, the Switch 2 does offer some more objective improvements over its predecessor like its 1080p screen, larger size, HDR and 120fps support.
Pivoting back from OLED screens may be a disappointment for some, but only time will tell if the good outweighs the bad when it comes to that June 5th launch date.