[Update] Netflix will reportedly begin streaming games from Telltale starting with Minecraft: Story Mode, Stranger Things game may be in development

Update: Telltale has confirmed earlier reports about its partnership with Netflix. Minecraft: Story Mode is coming to Netflix this fall and Telltale will publish a game based on Stranger Things for consoles and PC at a later date.

Original: A new report from TechRadar reveals that Netflix and Telltale Games are in talks to bring the developer’s titles to the streaming service, starting with Minecraft: Story Mode.

This sounds like a window is opening for Netflix to slowly take over the game streaming business, but I wouldn’t go that far just yet. The catch is that Netflix will offer a “modified version” of Minecraft: Story Mode, indicating that there will be some changes compared to its console counterparts. According to the initial report, “Minecraft: Story Mode will be delivered via video files and will accept commands via any remote equipped with directional and select buttons.” TechRadar now believes these impressions to be inaccurate, and the game will “instead play similarly to titles like Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile, which let younger viewers choose how the story unfolds.”

These limitations may mean that battle sequences could be cut from the final product.

Along with this deal between the two companies, Telltale is also reportedly developing a Stranger Things game. This project, however, won’t release on Netflix to stream (at least for the time being) and is instead being worked on as proper Telltale experience that we’ve grown accustomed to.

This partnership has yet to be formally announced by either company, but sources say that the announcement “could happen any day.”

During E3, Xbox’s Phil Spencer mentioned that Microsoft was working on bringing console-quality streaming to mobile devices. These plans are sure to precede bigger game streaming opportunities utilizing its Azure platform. Analysts have even begun to state that Microsoft is becoming the “Netflix of Gaming.” Even with Netflix’s own reported plans, I don’t think this changes. As the report implies, whatever game streaming Netflix will offer will be severely limited, even on simple titles like a Telltale game. Microsoft is likely in a better position to handle streaming AAA games without sacrificing too much.