Mike Verdu of Netflix Games leads new generative AI initiative

Mike Verdu, who had largely spearheaded Netflix’s foray into gaming in recent years as VP of Netflix Games, announced on LinkedIn a new role within Netflix Games leading the company’s effort to capitalize on generative AI.

The role, Vice President of GenAI for Games, focuses on using generative AI for the next step in creating games with big teams.

“GenAI is that next challenge. 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,” Verdu writes in his LinkedIn post. “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.”

It is worth noting that the announcement of this role comes shortly after Netflix shut down its only triple-A studio before it announced or released any games.

Verdu speaks in the blog post about how AI will accelerate and a catalyst for creator-driven decisions, hoping to make game development more lithe and agile.

“I can’t believe how lucky I am to be alive when a wave this big is about to hit the game industry,” Verdu writes. “Many view this technology with fear, but I am a game-maker at heart and I see its potential to unlock all of us, to create mind-blowing new experiences for players, to lift us to new heights. Yes, we’ll have to adapt and change, but when have we failed to meet that challenge as an industry?”

Netflix is far from the only gaming publisher to go this route. Electronic Arts is betting big on AI being a fundamental part of their game creation process. That said, Electronic Arts has also recently laid off a large chunk of their workforce, so some skepticism is warranted.