Netflix

Background

Netflix's biggest competition isn't HBO Max. No, it's Epic Games' Fortnite.

To claw back some of that screen time from its unexpected rival, the streaming juggernaut has invested in video games of its own and bakes in access to them via the Netflix mobile app.

These split between a few camps: existing games it's brought over to its platform including the Grand Theft Auto series, and completely original titles from its internal studios like indie darling Oxenfree 2.

Of course there are also a ton of games based on its stable of homegrown IP, including a trove of tawdry visual novels related to its dating shows.

Since 2023 I've been entrusted to publish 50+ SEO-driven long-form blog posts hyping games based on its tentpole properties including Black Mirror, Squid Game and Love is Blind.

I broke into journalism by writing about video games and spent the better part of a decade doing so almost exclusively.

After awhile I got burned out and wanted to explore more serious pastures. I had no interest in writing about games for the longest time, but Netflix helped remind me why I loved doing it as much as I did.

Namely, it's fun as hell.

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"If you need someone who consistently delivers sharp, intelligent and witty content, Timothy is your guy. Always on deadline, and always with the goods."

— David Jack Daniels, Netflix editorial specialist

Results

Creative process

The articles run on Netflix's Tudum blog and range from explainers and strategy guides, to round-ups and news stories.


Typically I'm playing a pre-release version of any given game, then drafting SEO-optimized copy based on my experiences, pulling out the nuggets that illustrate what makes the game fun and worth the reader's time.

Other times, I'm writing exclusively based on previously released seasons of a given show and pre-launch marketing materials like WIP pitch decks and video footage. These are a little more challenging given the ambiguity and lack of hands-on.

Each property requires a unique approach in terms of copy. Because each game has a very different audience, the tone has to match.


I went sardonic for the Black Mirror tie-in Thronglets and Squid Game: Unleashed, which absolutely would've felt out of place for, say, anything I wrote based on the bawdy dating competition Too Hot to Handle.

For the latter I drew upon my own dating experiences and went for a playful, flirtatious tone.

Squid Game: Unleashed

Netflix tried an experiment with Squid Game: Unleashed. Unlike other games on the service, you don't need a subscription to access it.

That gambit paid off. The brutal online battle royale currently is Netflix's first live-service style game and has over 5 million downloads on Google Play alone.

It's regularly refreshed with new games, cosmetic items and more tie-ins to the source material.

I wrote the announcement post, a strategy guide and updates detailing new content (left) that debuted with the show's final season.

Black Mirror: Thronglets

The idea with Black Mirror tie-in Thronglets was to give subscribers a way to play the game that's the basis for the centerpiece episode of the dystopian anthology's seventh season, Plaything.

With this project I was playing the game over a month before Season 7 debuted and had no idea what would happen in the LSD-fueled source material.

To fill in those gaps I spent a few hours working my way through the interactive TV episode Bandersnatch (Plaything is a continuation of that story), then played Thronglets to completion.

The copy I wrote had to pass muster not only from my editors at Netflix, but the Black Mirror creative team as well. It published nearly word for word from my first draft.

Thronglets currently has over 500,000 installs on Android

Selected works

These are the stories that best showcase my SEO chops, my personality and mastery of tone. I can go from gritty and cynical, to cheeky or family-friendly at the drop of a hat.

Let's tell your next big story together