Ustwo Games revamps the series that catapulted it into the stratosphere over a decade ago with Monument Valley 3The third sequel was revealed at Gamescom 2024, but unlike its predecessors, it will avoid the App Store and appear exclusively on Netflix Games.
This is not the first time Ustwo has collaborated with Netflix. The studio launched Desta: The memories in between exclusively on the platform, giving all subscribers access to a growing list of video games on smartphones and other devices before eventually launching on PC and Nintendo Switch.
Monument Valley, however, is a completely different caliber. When it was released in 2014, the atmospheric puzzle game became the flagship for Apple’s digital marketplace. The inevitable sequel, Monument Valley 2was released exclusively on iOS in June 2017 before moving to Android a few months later. So what’s changed?
Speaking to Game Developer about Ustwo’s decision to renew its partnership with Netflix, Monument Valley 3According to John Lau, executive producer, the current version of the App Store is a completely different caliber than the version that opened up new audiences for the studio all those years ago.
“When you think about the choices you have in the marketplace, they’re not the same as they were 10 years ago. I think discoverability is the main thing we try to maximize as much as possible. It’s really important that we get our games in front of as many people as possible,” Lau says.
He believes that the App Store is currently more focused on releasing free-to-play projects and titles that focus on “high user acquisition,” so he thinks it now makes much more sense for a piece like Monument Valley 3 to venture onto mobile, through a subscription service like Netflix Games, which he says will actually allow people to watch it.
“What’s special about it is that it also allows it to remain Monument Valley, rather than changing its mechanics or whatever else you have to do to survive in a different (ecosystem),” Lau continues. “(The Netflix Games deal is about) trying to make the kind of game we wanted to make without having to compromise so that it can survive in the app store that exists today.”
Game director Jennifer Estaris takes a similar view, stressing that the Netflix deal is about gaining an audience, and pointing to the streamer’s massive subscriber base – which currently includes nearly 270 million households in over 190 countries – as a clear and obvious advantage.
In a recently published financial reportNetflix stated that it has an “audience of over half a billion people” and claimed that developing and signing video games is a central part of its mission to “create great stories that appeal to many different tastes.” Estaris specifically addresses this point, stating that families are a central part of Netflix’s subscriber base and believes Monument Valley 3 will flourish in this population group.
Although Netflix’s high subscriber count is a good read, it was reported in 2022 that less than 1 percent of paying customers had downloaded the gamesIt is unclear how much the situation has changed, but there are signs of a deeper engagement with the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy was recently downloaded 30 million timesUstwo seems to be aiming for similar success.
