In the last decade, video game consoles have evolved from simply playing the best titles on the market, to multimedia devices capable of rendering DVD players and cable boxes obsolete. There are few things that consoles can't do at this point, and one of the most significant developments in console versatility in recent years has been the ability to stream just about anything. From music to movies, if there's a service that streams some kind of content, then almost every console is bound to have an app for it. Every console that is, except for the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo has always had a strange relationship with the trend of consoles becoming multimedia devices. While some apps like YouTube have almost always had a place on consoles, there are other services that seem to take a long time to reach the same devices. The Nintendo Switch has been no stranger to this relationship, as the console has a pretty slim suite of streaming services after being on the market for four years. Out of the many missing apps, there is one major omission that is still leaving a lot of fans scratching their heads. After all of this time, the Nintendo Switch still doesn't have Netflix.
Netflix And Nintendo Consoles
Netflix's absence on the Nintendo Switch is strange for a lot of reasons, but one of the most confusing aspects is the fact that Netflix has been on Nintendo consoles in the past. Every console starting with the Nintendo Wii has had some kind of Netflix app on it, even the Nintendo 3DS and its many models. While it was relatively bare-bones on the Wii and 3DS, the Wii U had the closest approximation to the Netflix apps that have been featured on recent PlayStation and Xbox consoles, so it's clear that Nintendo is capable of supporting some kind of app for the service.
Perhaps the strangest part of the history between Nintendo and Netflix came as recently as a few days ago when support for Netflix on the Wii U and 3DS was dropped. This effectively means that there are now no methods of watching Netflix on a Nintendo console, and it's left fans with more questions than answers. While Nintendo gave Wii U and 3DS owners ample warning that Netflix would no longer be supported, there were no plans of putting a Netflix app on the Switch. So even if fans still wanted to be able to watch Netflix on a Nintendo console, especially with the portability of the Switch, they can't.
The Switch's Current Media Apps
The Switch's lack of a Netflix app only gets more confusing considering the fact that the console does have some streaming services available for download. While there aren't many, YouTube and Hulu are available on the console, the latter being one of Netflix's longest-standing competitors. This defeats any possibility that Netflix isn't capable of running on the Switch, not only because it's been on hardware that is much less sophisticated, but services that are practically identical to it can run on the Switch as well.
The Switch isn't a stranger to streaming apps, however. As recently as this year, the anime streaming service Funimation was added to Switch consoles in the UK. While Funimation had also been on other consoles long before it was put on the Switch, it still shows that Nintendo is willing to expand its streaming capacity in some ways. It just makes the Netflix situation that much more perplexing, and it makes the frustration of fans that have wanted a Netflix app for years all the more understandable.
Possible Issues With Putting Netflix On Switch
If putting Netflix on the Switch has become this much of an issue, it begs the question of what exactly the hold up is. While there hasn't been any definitive word from Netflix or Nintendo, there is room for speculation based on Nintendo's recent business model and what it takes to put a new app on a console.
As far as Nintendo is concerned, the company has put a much greater focus on gaming for the duration of the Switch era. While PlayStation and Xbox in particular have put full multimedia integration into their consoles, Nintendo hasn't really concerned itself with such ambitions. It seems more concerned with doing one thing really well, instead of trying a lot of things at once. If the Switch did get Netflix, more gamers might start to look at it as a full multimedia console, and this could be what Nintendo is trying to avoid.
On the other hand, this decision could be one on Netflix's part due to Nintendo's reputation with streaming apps. Streaming has become so ubiquitous that almost every company is trying to get an edge somewhere, and having an app on as many platforms as possible is a great way to boost subscription numbers. At the same time, however, Netflix might not think that it's worth it to have an app on the Switch considering Nintendo's lack of strong support for streaming. It could also be that the Netflix app on the Wii U and 3DS just didn't get enough use to warrant a Switch version.
The Nintendo Switch has certainly seen a lot of success as a gaming console first and foremost, but with how many consoles are capable of nowadays, it's just strange that it doesn't have Netflix yet. It's already evident that the Switch can handle streaming services, and with how portable the console is, it seems like Netflix would be a perfect fit. There's still a lot of time in the Switch's lifecycle though, and with rumors of a Switch Pro continuing to circulate, it's possible that Netflix will return to a Nintendo console sometime in the future.