Streaming, both music and film, has spent decades trying to remove friction from the experience.  First came seamless streaming, then came auto-play, afterward smartphone access, and we can expect further developments to come.

But what’s next? It seems many media giants are looking towards games. And, with gaming being big business – the global market hovering around USD 239.92 billion in 2025 – it’s easy to see why.

Netflix Put a Games Tab on the TV

On October 9, 2025, Netflix launched games on the TV app itself, with the phone doing the job of a controller. Initially, the games were built for groups. It was the kind of thing you play together with friends, making it potentially a more social activity than binge-watching the latest blockbuster series. Since then, they’ve added some big players in the solo market – notably, Red Dead Redemption.

As a result, the screen that used to be for watching now has a menu for playing, which suggests a lot about where Netflix thinks streaming is heading.

 

Spotify Keeps Circling a Song-Guessing Game

Back in July 2022, Spotify bought a game called Heardle, which is a song-intro guessing game. It didn’t last long, however, as it was shut down in May 2023.

A recent update in February 2026 suggests they might have returned to the idea of including games. Code was spotted in their Android app for a new song-guessing game. No official announcement has been made, but with recent trends across other platforms, it seems likely they may be exploring the idea of including games once again.

Bars Beat Them Both to It

Of course, this link between entertainment and games isn’t new. But it’s certainly one growing in popularity. People go to bars to have fun and listen to music, and bingo can be used to turn it into a game.

Music bingo is simple: players get a card with song names on it. The host then plays 10 to 20 seconds of the track, and the players need to mark their bingo boxes once a song from their card is played.

Eventbrite’s 2026 Social Study took a look into the popularity of music bingo. In their research, they found that attendance at music bingo is up 149% in the US and 52% in the UK, comparing the year to July 2025 with the one before.

Why does this work so well? It’s easy to pick up. You don’t need to learn new mechanics, with the game using the same bingo format as online bingo games, such as the Disco Room. The main difference is that, instead of a certain number of balls, it’s a certain playlist of music.

Games Are Everywhere

When we think about games, it’s no longer just board games or video games. Instead, they’re everywhere – including on streaming services. This trend shows no sign of slowing, and it’ll be interesting to see which companies decide to invest in games to play in their apps next.