Netflix Adding New Feature To Mobile Games

(RTTNews) - Netflix, Inc. said it is adding a new feature to offer a more personalized mobile games experience on the platform.

In a statement, Sophia Yang, Product Manager, Mobile Games, said the company is rolling out the ability to create game handles, with which members will be able to create a unique public username. This can be used across all Netflix games.

Netflix noted that game handles help players discover, make friends and play with each other in multiplayer games like Rival Pirates or within leaderboards in games like Dominoes Café and Lucky Luna.

For setting up a game handle, the user needs to follow two simple steps on both iOS and Android devices. They need to boot up their Netflix mobile app, and then download Rival Pirates or Lucky Luna for prompts to select gamer handle in-game on iOS. On Android, the users need to select the games tab in the navigation bar and find the banner that says 'Create your Netflix game handle'

Yang also announced the launch of latest mobile games, Spongebob: Get Cooking (Tilting Point), a culinary adventure based on the series, and Desta: The Memories Between (ustwo Games).

The announcement comes as the video streaming giant struggles to keep up its subscribers amid the skyrocketing competition. In the second quarter, Netflix lost nearly 1 million subscribers globally, after reporting a subscriber loss also in the preceding first quarter. The majority of the loss were in the U.S. and Canada region along with EMEA, while LATAM and APAC regions recorded slight growth.

In August, Walt Disney's streaming services, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, surpassed Netflix in the number of subscribers. Disney then had 221 million streaming customers across all of its platforms, which was above Netflix's 220.7 million subscribers announced in July.

The streaming giant is in the process of building an ad-supported version of the company's streaming service, which is expected to launch next year. Netflix in late August also hired two executives from Snapchat to lead its advertising sales team.