Comcast appears to be giving gaming another shot, according to a recent report from Multichannel and an earlier post on the OSS Gamer Blog. Hedging the advanced technology incorporated into its premier X1 set-top platform, Comcast now plans to begin rolling out interactive gaming, the report said.
It appears Comcast’s current gaming focus will be on interactive, casual games, with an eye on popular television series. Currently, Comcast X1 users can purchase an interactive game called The Walking Dead for $9.99. The game is produced by the independent gaming studio Telltale Games, makers of the coolly-received Minecraft: Story Mode.
A trailer for the game can is available here.
Gaming on Comcast’s X1 set-top platform is a not a new venture. In 2015, the company announced that it had partnered with Electronic Arts (EA) to deliver an HD gaming experience through the platform. According to LightReading, this partnership was short-lived, however. It appears Comcast ended their joined effort with EA in early 2016, just about one year after the initial announcement.
Both Comcast and EA have been listed as “America’s Most Hated Company” by Consumerist. A joint partnership between both companies could have had some potentially negative public relations consequences.
Other streaming services have also tried their hand at interactive gaming. Netflix introduced its first interactive story, Puss in Boots in June. This was soon followed by Thunder Struck, with a third, Stretch Armstrong planned for 2018. At present, all of the Netflix interactive games have been targeted to children.
Sam Cook is a full-time content strategist by day, a part-time freelance content writer since 2015. In another life, he was a high school English teacher for nearly a decade. Based in sunny New Orleans, he writes long-form educational content on technology, including Insurtech, Fintech, HRtech, and content streaming. He loves whittling down complex ideas within these areas that make decisions easier for buyers. When he’s not reading books with his son Miles and playing video games with the family, you can find him immersed in his growing collection of Euro-style board games.
