If you are a Netflix subscriber, you may have dipped your toe into the collection of mobile games available for free with your subscription. In addition to titles based on shows like "Stranger Things" and "The Queen's Gambit," there are several acclaimed indie games, including "Spiritfarer," "Oxenfree," and "TMNT: Shredder's Revenge. [However, this is far from the full extent of Netflix's ambitions, and the Wall Street Journal has an interesting report on what is going on behind the scenes with streamers trying to become big players in gaming.

According to "a person familiar with the situation," Netflix will soon offer two more mobile games based on its hit franchises "Squid Game" and "Wednesday," as well as "Sherlock Holmes," "Extraction" and "Black Mirror," 5]

Interestingly, Netflix is also looking to tap into more hardcore gaming fans, and "through a licensing agreement, will be offering games within Take-Two Interactive Software's popular action-adventure series, " . and is discussing plans to release games within Grand Theft Auto"

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The most likely candidates would be titles that have already been ported to mobile, such as "GTA 3," "Vice City," "San Andreas," or "Chinatown Wars" on the DS.

While this is a bold statement of intent by Netflix in this area, it does not seem somewhat misguided. After all, most serious gamers have already played GTA games to death, and casual gamers are likely to be a bit underwhelmed by the experience, especially when interrupted by mobile controls.

Netflix is clearly serious about getting into gaming. We've already heard that the company is testing cloud streaming to TV, comparable to Game Pass, and opening its own game studio.

Indeed, a WSJ report notes that the company's current strategy of licensing games and developing them in-house mimics the way it has become a force in film and television. Third-party shows like "The Office" and "Breaking Bad" could be replaced with third-party games like "Bloons" and "Solitaire.

But video streaming was new and there was no obvious playbook to follow. Unlike games, Netflix is up against giants like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. Remember when Google and its billions of dollars tried to enter the field? That first-party studio was shut down within two years, and Stadia died 24 months later.

There is potentially an even bigger challenge facing Netflix: Netflix subscribers seem to be extremely indifferent to gaming, which is not surprising if they signed up for something completely different. According to the report, less than 1% of Netflix subscribers play the service's games on a daily basis.

If subscription fees rise to subsidize an entertainment medium they have no interest in, they will turn from indifference to hostility; the WSJ report suggests that games will be used to justify future scheduled price hikes, but this does not seem well thought out It does not seem to be well thought out. It will only increase the demand for a game-free subs package.

If I were in charge of Netflix, how would I unite the gaming and TV/movie people?

The WSJ estimates that the company has spent about $1 billion on games so far. I would use future budgets to help Telltale Games ("The Walking Dead," "Game of Thrones," "Batman"), Quantic Dream ("Heavy Rain," "Detroit: Become Human"), Don't Nod ("Life is Strange") ), which would pave the way for companies to make excellent choice adventure-style games based on Netflix properties.

Not only are these excellent games in their own right, but they would be welcomed by casuals and non-gamers alike, and would draw in subscribers by promising to reveal more of the story behind their favorite shows.

To me, this seems a much more sensible path than taking on the gaming giant directly. But then again, I'm not a Netflix exec...