Netflix targets video game fans this week with the launch of Netflix Infinite Runner, an autoscrolling platformer featuring characters from the original series Narcos, Marco Polo, Orange is the New Black, and Stranger Things.
The first of a presumed series of “Netflix Original Games,” Netflix Infinite Runner harkens back to the glory days of amateur Newgrounds flash animations, offering poorly drawn visuals paired with insipid gameplay. Fans of the featured series may want to give the game a brief look out of morbid curiosity, but its terrible mechanics discourage prolonged exposure.
Netflix has found success in recent months with its broad lineup of original episodic shows, including the women’s prison-themed Orange is the New Black and the horror sci-fi throwback Stranger Things. The approach serves as a cost-cutting measure that saves Netflix the cost of licensing feature films and television shows while drawing in new fans in search of original content.
Netflix Infinite Runner features settings and background music themed to each playable character. Players can take control of Narcos‘ drug kingpin Pablo Escobar as they run through the jungles of Columbia, or charge through a prison setting as Orange is the New Black‘s Piper Chapman while avoiding flying lunch trays and deadly plastic drinking cups.
Gameplay in Netflix Infinite Runner very quickly unravels as the lack of thought put into its level design soon becomes apparent. Obstacles appear randomly and players will have to grapple with unforgiving hitboxes as they attempt to survive for more than a few seconds of play. Levels also frequently place obstacles in close proximity to one another, making it impossible to avoid game-ending collisions in many cases.
In its defense, Netflix claims that Netflix Infinite Runner is only being promoted via its Spanish and Indian social media accounts.
Imagine tapping a Zelda icon on your iPhone and jumping straight into Hyrule. A new open-source project called nxnative makes that possible by repackaging Switch games you’ve bought into apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with no emulator in the middle.
Why does this run so well on Apple devices?
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”