Topic: Netflix

Why won't there be a Netflix for the Switch anytime soon?

Ask Netflix. They are the ones making the apps.

I worry in a situation like this that this is a Nintendo issue. Here we are a year in after the initial release of the console and it has had massive success. Yet we have no browser, no YouTube, no YouTube TV, no Netflix, no Twitch and so on. These are common apps on other consoles and entertainment devices but they are still missing here. Only Hulu has been approved to be on the Switch and I wonder if they worked out some exclusivity deal with Nintendo preventing the others from releasing in the near future.

I wondered that as well - the fact that Hulu is on the Switch shows that Nintendo aren't against having streaming apps on the console, but it makes the absence of the others all the more curious (especially considering that the convenience factor - ie. having the service available on as many devices as possible - is one of the big selling points of these services) ..it's just so unlikely to me that a powerhouse like YouTube couldn't make a Switch app in a year - so my guess is that Hulu have paid for some kind of period of exclusivity on the platform (and that a wave of others could follow once the deal expires)

I think it's indicative of a larger problem, which is that Nintendo still don't understand what it means to be a hardware manufacturer. They still seem to think it means that you made enough software to force your consumers to buy your hardware.

What they should do instead is to take the opportunity to get closer to other tablets in terms of quality. Not just more apps, but to include things like gorilla glass, better screen, etc. in future versions of the Switch.

But one of the big selling points over time for the original Wii was that is had Netflix on it and it was overall a fairly cheap device. It was easy to pitch it as a new style of more active gaming but it also had a popular streaming service on it as well. The only reason I could think of that there is Netflix on previous hardware like a Wii or Wii U, but not their latest and greatest has to be some sort of exclusive rights deal that they have not announced just yet.

I think over time we will find out that Hulu bought themselves a year, or Nintendo approached them about a year or so and they worked out a sweet deal for both companies. In the end though it hurts the consumer. As Navi wrote above, I find it really hard to believe that Google couldn't and hasn't made a Switch ready version of YouTube, or especially their new streaming service for live TV that they are pushing on all NBA and MLB games I have watched over the past two or three months with YouTube TV.

So I think we are all correct in this regard. Hulu probably has a deal with them and Nintendo just doesn't quite understand what they are doing when it comes to these media apps. I'm not complaining though. I have enjoyed my Switch for the gaming console that it is. I just know it can do more.

Nintendo really should have sorted this out by now, it's practically a 'make Switch useful when nothing's out' button.

Nintendo is supporting Xbox. I presume that's the reason, because if they put Netflix on the Switch then I'd have virtually no reason to use my Xbox.

@CHEWBACCA_Ewok
I'm Chewbacca and my wife is an Ewok (For our comic expo this year).

moar liek Notflix, hurhur

Same with my PS4. I only use it for streaming, and eventually hopefully Death Stranding, otherwise I only buy Switch games.

Then why not use it to play Xbox exclusives like Roblox, Cuphead, and Halo

Sorry if I seemed rude

There's a quote somewhere from someone at Netflix saying the app is ready to go but it's depending on Ninty approval.

@jump wasn't the quote from a rumor of what someone at Netflix said? I dont think Netflix officially said that or anything about the Switch