Netflix to Delist Hades and 21 Other Games Next Month

If you’ve been enjoying Hades on mobile via Netflix, you should make the most of your time with it. First reported by Engadget and confirmed via the Netflix app, Supergiant’s Greek mythology-inspired roguelike, along with 21 other games, will be delisted from the service next month. Several titles, including Braid, Katana Zero, and Hades, were available exclusively on mobile through Netflix, meaning that their removal could signify the end of their availability on Android and iOS.

List of Games Leaving Netflix

Below is the complete list of games that will be leaving Netflix next month. Most titles will depart the service on July 14th, while Hades will be removed slightly earlier, on July 1st. Carmen Sandiego does not have a confirmed delisting date, only that it is “leaving soon.”

• Battleship
• Braid, Anniversary Edition
• Carmen Sandiego
• CoComelon: Play with JJ
• Death’s Door
• Diner Out: Merge Cafe
• Dumb Ways to Survive
• Ghost Detective
• Hades
• Katana Zero
• Lego Legacy: Heroes Unboxed
• Ludo King
• Monument Valley
• Monument Valley 2
• Monument Valley 3
• Rainbow Six: Smol
• Raji: An Ancient Epic
• SpongeBob: Bubble Pop F.U.N.
• TED Tumblewords
• The Case of the Golden Idol
• The Rise of the Golden Idol
• Vineyard Valley

Developer Responses and Future Plans

The Verge has reached out to the developers of the games that were available exclusively on mobile via Netflix to inquire about their plans for distribution as premium titles. In an email, Nigel Lowrie, a spokesperson for Devolver Digital, stated, “We are looking at bringing games that leave services like Poinpy, Katana Zero, and Death’s Door to mobile stores as premium titles.”

Lowrie also noted that each developer has its own timeline for when this transition will occur, but Devolver is working to make these games available on mobile storefronts “as soon as possible.” Devolver Digital has prior experience with this, as seen with Exit the Gungeon, which had a mobile version available exclusively through Apple Arcade, will become a paid game on iOS and Android after it was delisted from Apple’s gaming subscription service last year.

Implications for Developers

In a Discord server for Color Gray Games, the developer of the Golden Idol series, Andrejs Klavins, the lead designer and programmer, remarked, “This is all recent news for us and all the practical implications have yet to be worked out.” This statement indicates that some developers were only recently informed about their games leaving the platform, suggesting that this decision was not necessarily pre-planned.

Netflix’s Shifting Gaming Strategy

The removal of third-party games, many of which had achieved significant mainstream success outside of Netflix, reflects the platform’s evolving gaming strategy. Netflix has ceased its acquisition spree and, in October of last year, Netflix closed the new studio it spun up to produce a multiplatform AAA game before it could release any new titles. In an interview with The Verge at the Game Developers Conference in March, Netflix’s new president of games, Alain Tascan, stated, “We need to find our voice.”

Netflix intends to streamline its offerings to focus more on games that are associated with Netflix-owned shows, multiplayer party games, games for children, and “mainstream” titles that have substantial fan bases. Analyzing the numbers, this strategy appears to be a logical approach.

Popular Games on Netflix

According to data from Appfigures, a mobile analytics company, the most popular game on Netflix is — coming at no surprise — Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, boasting an estimated 37 million downloads. The next most popular title, which has less than half the downloads of San Andreas, is Squid Game: Unleashed, a tie-in game for the Netflix-produced Korean social thriller Squid Game. These two games are not scheduled for removal at this time. However, if you are a fan of any of the games listed above, they will be leaving soon, so be sure to play them while you can.