Netflix debuts own version of popular word guessing mobile game Heads up

Representative image.

Netflix on August 23 announced that it is launching an exclusive version of the popular word guessing mobile game 'Heads Up!' in partnership with Ellen Digital Ventures, the joint venture between prominent talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and Warner Bros.

Called Netflix Heads Up!, the game will feature 28 new card decks based on Netflix's own popular original series like Stranger Things, Squid Game, Shadow and Bone, Bridgerton, and Selling Sunset apart from a range of entertainment-themed decks like romcoms (romantic comedy) or true crime.

Heads Up! game is a variation of charades where players have to guess the words displayed on the virtual card that's on another player's forehead before the one-minute timer runs out.

To play the game, one can pick a category, hold their device up to their head with the screen facing outward, and guess the words using the clues from other participants like their friends and family.

The game first debuted in 2013 and was frequently played on Ellen DeGeneres's recently ended talk show 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'.

Netflix Heads Up! will be available to all of its 221 million subscribers across the world on Android and iOS devices. It will support up to 15 different languages including French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Thai, the company said.

One can also share recordings of their matches with friends and family on social platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok.

With the addition of Netflix Heads Up!, the streaming platform said it now has 27 mobile games and plans to double this catalog to over 50 games by the end of the year.

Netflix forayed into mobile games in November last year and has announced plans to expand its games portfolio across both casual and core gaming genres in 2022. These games are bundled with the user's existing Netflix membership at no extra cost and are available on an ad-free basis with no in-app purchases or additional fee.

Over the past year, the company has also acquired a few gaming studios including Next Games and Boss Fight in March 2022 and Night School Studio in September 2021.