Netflix appoints Mike Verdu as VP of GenAI for games

Former Netflix games boss Mike Verdu has been appointed as the VP of GenAI for games at the company.

Earlier this year Verdu moved into a new role at the company said to involve “innovation in game development”. He was later replaced in the top job by former Epic Games EVP of development Alain Tascan as president of Netflix Games.

In a LinkedIn post, Verdu said he is now working to drive “a once in a generation inflection point” for game development and player experiences using generative AI. 

He said the tech could be used to speed up development and offer new types of experiences.

“I am focused on a creator-first vision for AI, one that puts creative talent at the centre, with AI being a catalyst and an accelerant,” he said.

“AI will enable big game teams to move much faster, and will also put an almost unimaginable collection of new capabilities in the hands of developers in smaller game teams.”

He added: “I don't think I've been this excited about an opportunity in this industry since the 90s, when we saw a new game launch every few months that redefined what was possible.

“It was an incredible time to be making games as talented creators showed all of us what the future looked like. Guess what? We're back to those days of seemingly unlimited potential and the rapid pace of innovation, which resulted in mind-blowing surprises for players every few months.”

Netflix has a number of projects in development for the platform, including titles in its interactive fiction-based Netflix Stories series. 

It's worth noting that AI games developer Series Entertainment acquired Pixelberry Games earlier this year, with the aim of using genAI tech in its Choices: Story You Play to help create new chapters.

New role

Verdu also wrote about being replaced in the top job at Netflix Games. He claimed that the division had now “hit scale” and that the “time had come to hand off to someone who can take this enterprise to the next level”.

“We've delivered 100+ games, increased game engagement by multiples, and rolled out a test of cloud streaming to TV and PC in several countries. I'm very proud of this,” said Verdu.

“However, after starting and selling 3 start-ups and building 3 new divisions in larger organisations, I readily acknowledge that my strength is 0-1, or 0-1,000 in terms of employees.”

In an investor call earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Gregory Peters said that engagement and the impact of games on its overall business at the current scale was “still quite small”.

“It's also probably worth noting that the investment level in games relative to our overall content spend is also quite small,” he said. “And we've calibrated the growth in investment with the growth in the business impact. So we're being disciplined about how we scale that.

“So now obviously, the job is to continue to grow that engagement to the place where it has a material impact on the business.”

Peters also claimed the company had tripled engagement with its games, but provided no data on actual figures.