You probably subscribe to Netflix so that you can keep up to date with all the new Netflix Originals debuting each week, but one of the extra perks of a subscription is Netflix Games. People who use the Android or iOS Netflix app can download and play video games on their mobile for no extra cost.
For the most part, these games have been rather small ones or tie-ins to Netflix properties, though with the occasional licensed indie title. However, the streamer has surprised subscribers with the announcement of a few major titles coming to the platform by the end of the year.
The headline additions here are the Grand Theft Auto trilogy. This is a bundle remastering three classic GTA games (2001's GTA III, 2002's GTA: Vice City and 2004's GTA: San Andreas), updating their looks and the way they play, and it was originally released in 2021.
As well as PC and games consoles, these super-popular GTA games were available to buy on mobile too. However each costs $/£5 to buy, so Netflix is giving you this $/£15 bundle for free to its subscribers. They're coming to the streamer on Thursday, December 14, and are arguably the biggest names in Netflix's gaming line-up.
As classic GTA games, you know what you're getting from these: they're action games with lots of driving, exploring and shooting, though their stories have been praised too as satires of American culture.
The three Grand Theft Auto games aren't the only new games being brought to Netflix, though, and two other major mainstream titles recently hit the platform too.
The first of these is Football Manager 2024 Mobile, a version of the super-popular soccer management game that has been adapted to work better on phones. It lets you own and manage a soccer squad and manage their seasons as you build them up.
Football Manager is a huge deal for video game fans who like soccer, and so this mobile addition is a big get for Netflix.
The last recent addition is Farming Simulator 2023, the latest addition to the inexplicably popular franchise of farm-owning games. Unlike casual titles like Farmville, this is a detailed and complicated experience, letting you rear animals, sow and harvest crops and maintain a farm, and this franchise has built a cult following of dedicated players.
Farming Simulator 2023 costs $7.99 / £6.99 normally, but again it's free to Netflix subscribers right now.
These last two titles may sound fairly niche but the franchises have typically had quite a broad appeal, so all five of these big-name games are major additions to the Netflix games catalog. With previous must-play titles on the platform being indies like Moonlighter, Into the Breach and Spiritfarer, these titles might be what it takes to convince non-gamers to start testing the waters of Netflix's gaming line-up.
