OpenAI Sets $50 Billion Stock Grant Pool, Boosting Employee Equity and Valuation Outlook 
FCC Exempts Select Foreign-Made Drones From U.S. Import Ban Until 2026 
Elon Musk Says X Will Open-Source Its Algorithm Amid EU Scrutiny 
Mercedes-Benz to Launch Advanced Urban Self-Driving System in the U.S., Challenging Tesla FSD 
Lenovo Unveils AI Cloud Gigafactory With NVIDIA and Launches New AI Platform at CES 2026 
Anthropic Launches HIPAA-Compliant Healthcare Tools for Claude AI Amid Growing Competition 
BESI Reports Strong Q4-25 Orders Surge Driven by Data Center and Hybrid Bonding Demand 
Nvidia Appoints Former Google Executive Alison Wagonfeld as First Chief Marketing Officer 
Discord Confidentially Files for U.S. IPO, Signaling Major Milestone 
Trump Considers Starlink to Restore Internet Access in Iran Amid Protests 
AMD Unveils Next-Generation AI and PC Chips at CES, Highlights Major OpenAI Partnership 
Samsung Forecasts Strong Q4 Profit on AI-Driven Memory Chip Boom 
Hyundai Motor Shares Surge on Nvidia Partnership Speculation 
Baidu’s AI Chip Unit Kunlunxin Prepares for Hong Kong IPO to Raise Up to $2 Billion 
Supreme Court to Hear Cisco Appeal on Alien Tort Statute and Human Rights Liability 
China Reviews Meta’s $2 Billion AI Deal With Manus Amid Technology Control Concerns 
Trump Pushes Tech Giants to Absorb AI Data Center Power Costs, Citing Microsoft Changes 
Netflix has been rumored to expand its reach by streaming video games, and it appears that a major development on this front was achieved recently. The company has reportedly hired a long-time gaming exec to lead the effort, and the new service could launch in the near future.
The streaming giant has hired Mike Verdu as its new vice president of game development, per a report from Bloomberg. After working for EA, Verdu led the efforts of bringing games to Facebook’s Oculus VR platform. The same report notes that Verdu was involved in the development of several popular IPs, including “The Sims,” “Plants vs. Zombies,” and “Star Wars” titles. He also worked as Zynga’s former chief creative officer from 2009 to 2012.
The hiring of Verdu is one of the first steps in Netflix’s video game venture, but the report noted that the company has yet to finalize its plans when it comes to actually developing games for its streaming service. But the main idea behind Netflix’s significant undertaking is to add video games, aside from the typical movie and TV show programming currently offered to its subscribers.
A specific timeline for Netflix’s video game offers is still unknown, but the report’s sources claim the plans could materialize “within the next year.” It was also noted that Netflix does not plan to increase its subscription fees on the initial run of its video game streaming service. But adding more content beyond TV shows and movies is expected to make it easier for the company to justify increases in pricing in the future.
Newsweek reported in May that Netflix still holds first place in terms of global subscriptions with more than 207 million subscribers. Amazon Prime Video follows closely, though, with 200 million memberships, and Disney+ with 100 million subscribers as of March. But the so-called streaming wars are expected to become tighter, especially with more companies launching their own streaming services, making Netflix’s venture into video games seemingly the right step in an attempt to keep its lead.
Netflix has already dabbled with a few video game and interactive media projects before. It has licensed its widely popular series “Stranger Things” for a video game adaptation developed by BonusXP in 2017 on Android and iOS. The same developer released “Stranger Things 3: The Game” in 2019, this time making it available to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
