Netflix has blamed COVID-19 after missing its growth forecasts in the last quarter citing post lockdown decline in interest in the streaming service and a pandemic related mishap.
The top content platform and production company hit below the 1.75 million analytics had anticipated and a fraction of the 10 million it added in the second quarter a year earlier after recording 1.54 million new subscribers, a slowdown in new productions.
“COVID had created some lumpiness in our membership growth (higher growth in 2020, slower growth this year), which is working its way through”, the company said in a statement
Netflix confirmed the pandemic related production hitches a year earlier signified hardly any new offerings in the first half of this year.
The company said its slate of new programming will build through in the course of the year.
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It has since announced its intentions to shift into gaming intending a runway of increasing investment and growth of all of their existing content categories.
“Since we are nearly a decade into our push into original programming, we think the time is right to learn more about how our members value games,” the company said.
According to Netflix, the move comes as the changing viewing habits of people coming out of lockdown and intense competition posing a threat to its dominance in streaming.
Last week the company received 129 Emmy nominations for shows including The Crown, Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit after it ended the quarter with more than 209 million paid memberships.
The analysts warn a slip in Netflix as its targeted audiences will move towards rival companies such as Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Walt Disney’s Company Disney.
