Netflix Unveils New Mobile Experience, Announces Games Vision at APAC Innovation Event

Netflix announced several product updates at the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Product Innovation Showcase held on Wednesday. The streaming giant detailed a refreshed mobile experience, expanded content discovery tools, and new gaming initiatives for kids and families. Its new additions are claimed to make the streaming service more personalised, interactive, and engaging for users across the Asia-Pacific region. Among the experiences is the expansion of the redesigned mobile to markets like South Korea and Japan beginning next month.

What Netflix Announced at the APAC Product Innovation Showcase

In a blog post, Netflix said that innovation is a key part of its efforts to serve its global user base, and it aims to do so through improved content discovery, new entertainment formats, and new storytelling tools for creators. At the showcase, Elizabeth Stone, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Netflix, outlined the company's vision for building more personalised entertainment experiences through technology.

Last month, the streaming giant launched its refreshed mobile experience in India, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa. It is now being expanded to Asia-Pacific markets like Japan and South Korea in July, with additional regional launches planned for later.

The redesigned Netflix app brings a new vertical video format called Clips. It is geared towards content discovery, allowing users to view short video snippets. They can also save titles to My List, share the clips with friends, or jump directly into the show or movie the clip is from. The feed is claimed to be personalised, based on the user's viewing habits and interactions across the app.

Netflix also announced plans to test themed Clips collections in the future, based on specific genres, moods, interests, behind-the-scenes moments, reality television highlights, or podcast excerpts.

On the gaming front, the company will add a new KPop Demon Hunters collection to the Playground beginning June 20. It includes six new minigames inspired by the franchise, which are claimed to allow younger audiences to engage with characters and stories from the series through interactive gameplay. More titles based on popular children's series, films, and characters are expected to be introduced in the future, too.

At the showcase, Netflix emphasised that its curated collections and themed hubs enhance content discovery by letting members browse content based on interests, seasonal events, and cultural moments. For example, there are region-specific collections tied to occasions like Diwali in India and Golden Week in Japan.

The company Netflix also highlighted a recently launched initiative called Watch Your Favourite Books hub. It is a dedicated browsing experience for viewers interested in screen adaptations of books.