Netflix Lands Facebook Executive as it Branches into Video Games

Streaming giant Netflix has landed a Facebook gaming executive as part of its team.

The company has hired Mike Verdu, who also worked for EA and Kabam, as they push deeper into entertainment.

Not long ago Netflix had announced a “Stranger Things” game and choose-your-own-adventure content.

At Facebook, Verdu had been vice president of augmented reality and virtual reality content. He also worked at gaming companies Electronic Arts, Kabam, Zynga and Atari, dating back to the late
1990s.

Bloomberg was the first to break the news on the new hire for Netflix which was also confirmed by a Netflix spokesperson.

According to Bloomberg, Netflix could offer games right next to its other streaming content “within the next year.”

At Netflix, Verdu will report to Greg Peters, Netflix’s chief operating officer and chief product officer.

Liontree CEO Aryeh Bourkoff had remarked last month, “Amazon, if it was still offering books today, and that’s all, people would churn off of it. Companies have to evolve. I think you will see a lot more companies that offer direct to consumer products, even Spotify, even Netflix, offer more and more services. Why have Spotify or Netflix just have video, or just have audio? Why not have gaming? Why not have a multi-product approach, following what Amazon has done?”

It was in 2019 that Facebook said at the E3 gaming conference that it was releasing a mobile game based on the “Stranger Things” series, following an announced launch of Stranger Things 3: The
Game for consoles and PCs.

Netflix also said it was creating Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics as an adaptation of the Netflix movie “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.