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Netflix views Fortnite as bigger threat than Game of Thrones maker HBO

Netflix views Fortnite as bigger threat than Game of Thrones maker HBO

Epic's Fortnite is one of the biggest threats to Netflix's business.

That's according to the streaming service who, speaking to shareholders, said that the free-to-play games giant was a bigger source of anxiety than media rival HBO.

“We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO,” Netflix said in a letter.

“There are thousands of competitors in this highly fragmented market vying to entertain consumers.”

Video games were also cited in reply to a question about how the streaming firm was going to grow its audience.

"It really is as winning time away, entertainment time from other activities," said CEO Reed Hastings (pictured) said in a call with investors, transcribed by Seeking Alpha

"So, instead of doing Xbox or Fortnite or YouTube or HBO or a long list, we want to win and provide a better experience. No advertising on demand. Incredible content. And so when you think of just the U.S. terms as an example. There are a billion hours of television content being consumed today, we’re winning about 10 per cent of it."

This isn't the first time that video games and Netflix have appeared together in the news recently. Activision Blizzard CFO Spencer Neumann was booted from the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker after interviewing for a role at the streaming giant; one he eventually was given.

Fortnite has attracted more than 200m players since its launch in July 2017 and has gone on to become one of the biggest games in the world. Research firm SuperData reckons the free-to-play title brought in a massive $2.4bn in revenue in 2018


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.