Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, co-CEOs of Netflix, arrive at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 6, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Getty Images/Kevin Dietsch In extended trading on Wednesday, Netflix shares jumped 2% after Bloomberg reported that the video-streaming business had hired video-game executive Mike Verdu from Facebook, where he was vice president of augmented reality and virtual reality content. The move demonstrates Netflix’s desire to expand beyond providing millions of people with access to television episodes and movies. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are also making video game investments. In 2019, the corporation mentioned the Fortnite game as a competitor. To CNBC, a Netflix spokeswoman confirmed the move. Verdu has previously worked for Atari, Electronic Arts, Kabam, and Zynga, among others. Netflix has been treading carefully in the gaming business for the past two years. Following the announcement of Stranger Things 3: The Game for consoles and PCs at the E3 gaming convention in 2019, Netflix revealed that it would create a mobile game based on the “Stranger Things” series. The studio also announced that “Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics” would be made as a sequel to the Netflix film “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” Netflix was reportedly looking for a gaming executive in May, according to The Information. — Alex Sherman and Ari Levy of CNBC contributed to this story. WATCH: Streaming services’ spending is justified, according to a former Amazon studio executive./n
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