Picture: SNK / Skybound Games
Netflix is soon closing in on 100 games available as part of your subscription, playable on mobile (via Google Play and iOS) or via the Netflix app on your TV or the web for some lucky beta testers. Two games, however, have been pulled from the service in recent weeks without any explanation as to why.
The two games are as follows:
- WrestleQuest was first released on Netflix games on August 22nd, 2023. Mega Cat Studios is the developer.
- Samurai Shodown was released on Netflix games on August 29th, 2023. SNK is the developer.
Not only have the games have been pulled from the respective app stores, but help pages on the Netflix Help Site forward you back to the main game’s hub, and trailers have also been removed. Mega Cat Studios has removed all references to Netflix across its site, with the exception of it being noted in the Legends trailer and a press kit.
The reason why these games were pulled from the service hasn’t been made public. In the case of both, it’s believed (based on messages on the likes of Reddit and Discord groups) that quality control may have been the reason for removals. Numerous threads, accessible reviews from archived versions of the storefronts, and social media activity suggest that many couldn’t get the games to work at all on their devices.
In one Reddit thread, a user states for WrestleQuest:
“It was literally broken to the point of being unplayable. None of the boosts worked, people keep getting stranded with no escape, and there are constant crashes.”
Another user stated that they spoke to the company behind the game and stated that it was Netflix’s decision to pull it off the service.
Samurai Shodown reportedly had all its servers switched off, too, so even if you managed to keep hold of the game, it’s not in a playable state.
Quality control is a common complaint for other games still active on Netflix. This shouldn’t be a huge surprise, given the number of devices any game has to work on. Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon is perhaps the most notable game currently available that’s criticized for its performance. At the time of publishing, it held a 1.8 rating on the Google Play Store, with many reviews stating that they were unable to get the game to load. This is the only game with a score less than two, but there are 19 games in total with review scores between 2 and 3.
Netflix Games PR declined to comment on this story when we asked for a comment on the removal itself and whether it would be coming back. We also reached out to Skybound Games who have yet to comment.
Will more games be leaving Netflix in the future? The removal of games could occur more in the future, as we see regularly with Apple Arcade Plus, which has a rotating library of mobile games. These work, in essence, like how Netflix’s TV and movie library work whereby certain titles are only licensed to Netflix for a fixed period of time rather than Netflix holding the rights indefinitely.