Netflix games are not so popular: less than 1% of subscribers play them

Netflix's foray into the gaming industry has been a failure thus far. According to an assessment performed by Apptopia on behalf of CNBC, Netflix's games have been downloaded a total of 23.3 million times and average about 1.7 million daily users, according to an analysis done by Apptopia on behalf of CNBC. To put it another way, just 0.1% of Netflix's 221 million subscribers are using the games included in their packages.

According to the company, it didn't expect its gaming division to be profitable immediately in the past. "We're going to be innovative and try a variety of things," Netflix COO Greg Peters said during the firm's fourth-quarter earnings calls last year.

Even with its recent subscriber losses, Netflix still has a lot riding on this strategy. The question that everyone is probably asking is how long Netflix will wait to see whether it made the correct decision, especially following its most recent quarter, when it lost almost one million customers. After just a few months of spending, other ambitious ideas - such as the in-house fan blog Tudum - were discontinued.

To date, Netflix has provided only limited information on how much it has spent expanding its portfolio beyond TV programs and films, although most indications point to a significant investment. The company acquired Next Games, the studio behind Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales, in April 2018 for $72 million. More recently, it secured exclusive mobile rights to well-known indie games like Spiritfarer and Into The Breach. If the previous investments do not work out as planned, the firm is unlikely to make similar ones in the future.