Netflix wants to make a 'triple-A' PC shooter
With no microtransactions, to boot.
Netflix, that thing you only have thanks to a parent's or ex's password, is getting into the "triple-A PC game" business. That's according to a job listing for a game director on the company's website, which also hints that the game Netflix has in mind will be a live service shooter.
Spotted by MobileGamer.biz, Netflix's preferred candidate is an Unreal Engine maestro with "extensive experience" in live service games. They'll also know all about "social systems [...] both cooperative and competitive" and, preferably, have experience of working on "FPS and/or Third Person Shooter games." I don't know about you, but I feel like I could write a preview of this game right now and have it be like 70% accurate.
Intriguingly, Netflix says its ideal hire "will be able to create, ship and run a game without any competing design constraints due to monetization". That suggests that, much like the company's mobile games, its "triple-A PC" offering will be free of microtransactions. Maybe that's to be expected based on Netflix's track record, but it'd be an unexpected move from a live service game.
As MobileGamer also points out, another listing for a lead engineer specifically references a project to build a "3rd person action RPG." It's not totally clear if that's the same game referred to in the director listing, but it would make sense based on what we already know.
Beyond that, there's not much we can divine from the job listing. There's just the usual job ad pablum: Netflix wants a game director who's aligned with its core values and who can "synthesise" Netflix's "unique advantages" into a "massively successful game." So don't even think about applying if you can only synthesise Netflix's unique advantages into a moderately successful game, buster.
Netflix has been branching out more and more into gaming recently. It established its first in-house studio last September and says it's "seriously considering" cloud gaming. And why not? I suppose a little more competition in the games industry is never a bad thing. Hopefully this one works out better than Amazon's F2P shooter Crucible. Just please, please don't make me have to install another bloody launcher.