Netflix seems set to use your phone as a controller for TV games, like Stadia did

Ben Schoon | Mar 30 2023 - 10:01 am PT

Netflix is reportedly working on the ability to play games on your TV using your smartphone as a controller, a feature that might feel familiar to former Stadia players.

As reported by Bloomberg, Netflix is currently working on bringing games to TVs. The functionality was revealed through code within the Netflix app. The code directly references using a smartphone as a controller for the games being played on the TV, saying in part:

A game on your TV needs a controller to play. Do you want to use this phone as a game controller?

It’s unclear how this functionality might work, or how Netflix intends to serves games on the TV. The company has been serving games on Android and iOS since 2021, with the catalog growing steadily. But, behind the scenes, Netflix has also been working on cloud gaming functionality, which would open the door to higher quality games on a wide variety of devices.

Google, notably, offered similar functionality on its now-dead Stadia cloud gaming service. Using a feature called “Phone Link” which debuted in 2021, Stadia players could use their phone’s touchscreen as a controller for devices such as TVs, as well as pairing a controller to their phone rather than their TV for easier connections.