My take? Another data point on gearing towards getting acquired by Microsoft.
What, why?
Opening up viewer data is a lever that could indicate Netflix is trying to find their Top Of Market Value— the same strategy they've afforded their employees.
No, but why Microsoft?
E.Z. AAA video games are incredibly expensive to produce and the ones with the highest profit margins rely on a healthy population. More people means shorter queues means more retention.
Why did Microsoft replace Overwatch one with a full update of Overwatch 2?
Each successive Halo game cannibalized the predecessor, but also fragmented the player base. Some were lost to older hardware, but others were lost to them not liking the “updated” version for whatever reason.
The result is a split player base— leading to longer queue times and attrition. Gamers only have so much time to spend and waiting in queues is time well wasted.
What does that have to do with Netflix?
Netflix is an Entertainment as a Service company, a core competency that is missing from Microsoft, yet present in Google, Apple, and Amazon. Apologies to the Xbox division, you are the closest thing.
Between matches, gamers will entertain themselves externally through other devices. Engagement is consistently disrupted by these distractions.
By keeping the gamer engaged on service, they can compensate for longer queue times by playing The Office or even embedded games, stemming the attrition and giving longer life to games that would have otherwise died off years ago.
But don't ask me, ask their ad partnership.