Hastings declared that the company, which earlier today reported reaching a higher-than-expected 214 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, would one day “really entertain the world.” Though he cautioned that revenue and profit margins would need to align with spending on content, he said current levels of $17 billion a year in spending could expand exponentially.

CFO Spencer Neumann said, “We still think we’re in early days.” Given the total global pay-TV and broadband universe of more than 1 billion households, with more on mobile, he added, “We don’t see a ceiling, at least not for the foreseeable future.”.

Netflix expects to add 8.5 million new subscribers in the quarter, as new seasons of Stranger Things and Tiger King go live, along with high-profile movies like Red Notice.

In 2020, for example, the company added nearly 26 million subscribers in the first half of the year, but only 2 million more the rest of the year.

Product chief Greg Peters, who oversees the gaming effort, says the mission is about “learning to be successful.” He said the initiative will look to emulate the ramp-up of original series and film programming, with “a bunch of different approaches,” spanning self-made game titles to co-ventures with partners to acquired fare

In September, Netflix acquired Night School Studio, the independent game developer known for narrative-driven titles like Oxenfree

Developing an internal game development capability will allow Netflix to “push the edge of interactive storytelling,” he added, in turn reducing subscriber churn