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'If you think about the choices one might have in the market economy, it's not the same as it was 10 years ago.'
Ustwo Games is revisiting the series that launched it into the stratosphere over a decade ago with Monument Valley 3. The threequel was unveiled at Gamescom 2024, but unlike its forebears will be shunning the App Store and launching exclusively on Netflix Games.
This isn't the first time Ustwo has collaborated with Netflix. The studio launched Desta: The Memories Between exclusively on the platform, which grants all subscribers access to a growing roster of video games on smartphones and other devices, before eventually bringing it to PC and Nintendo Switch.
Monument Valley, though, is a different beast. When it launched in 2014, the atmospheric puzzler became a poster child for Apple's digital marketplace. The inevitable sequel, Monument Valley 2, debuted exclusively on iOS in June 2017 before shuffling onto Android a few months later. So, what's changed?
Speaking to Game Developer about Ustwo's decision to renew its partnership with Netflix on Monument Valley 3, lead producer John Lau says the current incarnation of the App Store is a very different beast to the one that connected the studio with new audiences all those years ago.
"If you think about the choices one might have in the market economy, it's not the same as it was 10 years ago. I think discoverability is the key thing we're trying to maximize as much as possible. It's really important that we get our games in front of as many people as we can," says Lau.
He feels the App Store is currently more focused on surfacing free-to-play projects and titles that prioritize "high user-acquisition" above all else. As a result, he says it now makes a lot more sense for a morsel like Monument Valley 3 to venture onto mobile by way of a subscription service like Netflix Games, which he says will actually "allow people to see it."
"The thing about that is, it also allows it to stay Monument Valley rather than change its mechanics or do whatever else you need to do to survive in a different [ecosystem]," Lau continues. "[The Netflix Games deal is about] trying to make the kind of game we wanted to make, without having to compromise in order for it to survive in the kind of App Store that exists in the modern day."
Game director Jennifer Estaris agrees. She emphasizes the Netflix deal is about securing an audience, and points to the streamer's massive subscriber base—which currently includes almost 270 million households across over 190 countries—as a clear and obvious boon.
In a recent fiscal report, Netflix stated it has an "audience of over half a billion people," and claimed developing and signing video games was a core part of its mission to create "great stories that appeal to lots of different tastes." Elaborating on that point specifically, Estaris states that families are a core part of Netflix's subscriber base, and feels Monument Valley 3 will thrive among that demographic.
Although Netflix's lofty subscriber count makes for good reading, in 2022 it was reported that less than 1 percent of those paying customers had downloaded its games. It's unclear how much the situation has changed, but there are signs of deeper engagement with the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy recently racking up 30 million downloads. Ustwo appears to be backing itself to find similar success.
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