At last week’s Game Awards, Netflix announced that party platformer Squid Game: Unleashed would be completely free, whether you are a Netflix subscriber or not. It’ll be released on iOS and Android tomorrow, December 17.
It’s a bold move. Like Apple Arcade titles, Netflix games have no ad or IAP monetisation – so what’s the thinking behind this move, and isn’t there pressure to see some return on investment for this game? The game’s director Bill Jackson says, in short, no.
“We really wanted to be part of the conversation and open this up as much as possible so that people, even non-members, can experience what this is,” he tells us.
“And so really it’s a bridge to understand this universe and this world and a great opportunity for us to get the word out about everything we’re doing. And it just made sense, there was support from top to bottom of the company.”
The title is developed by Netflix first party studio Boss Fight, previously the maker of polished team battler Dungeon Boss. Boss Fight was acquired by Netflix in March 2022, and since then has turned its hand to several titles, including making dating games within the Netflix Stories app.
“The opportunity to come to Netflix and to work without monetisation has been liberating, and allowed us to do game genres and designs and things that I don’t think would work in the monetisation models of free to play games as easily,” Jackson told us.
Squid Game: Unleashed is “the biggest, most ambitious thing” Netflix’s internal studios have made to date, says Jackson. Development started on the game around two years ago, and around 100 developers at Netflix have pulled the title together, he says.
Similar party platformers like Fall Guys and Stumble Guys have also worked well on PC and console – but Jackson says there are currently no plans for a cross-platform release. “It’s a mobile product made for mobile, and it’s made exclusively for mobile right now,” says Jackson.
“And I would say that the genre in general lends itself to that kind of thinking. This is a mobile release, a big one. The game is designed to work well on mobile. And there’s a lot of innovation in this title, and a lot of differences between, you know, other games that you might be drawing comparison with.”
“The cool thing about Unleashed is the matches are extremely quick and short,” adds Jackson. “So you can be in line at Starbucks and probably play through a round before your latte gets to you…that’s kind of the idea – mobile games should fit into your life, not necessarily require you to sit down and focus so tightly on it.”
“If you’re really competitive, though, you can get good, and you can try to move up the rankings and earn the rewards at the top of the competition ladders.”
Squid Game: Unleashed is perhaps the biggest Netflix release of the year alongside Monument Valley 3, which arrived on the service last week. As we reported recently, jobs ad posted by Netflix recently suggest it is also making a new AI-driven game inspired by Stardew Valley, as well as a ‘dual-screen, narrative-driven, action-arcade game’.
