Netflix Rebrands as Qwikster, Adds Video Gaming Service
Netflix is rebranding its movies-by-mail service. The service will change its name to “Qwikster” and add video games to its delivery service, the company’s CEO Reed Hastings announced Sunday evening.
The company’s web-streaming service, however, will continue to be known as Netflix, according to a post by Hastings on the company’s blog page.
The news comes amid an uproar by Netflix’s customers as the company separates its services. Customers who used to be able to subscribe to both the movies-by-mail service as well as the online-streaming service have found themselves having to choose between one or the other. To continue the same service, some customers have been asked to take an increase in payments of up to 60 percent.
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Now following Hasting’s announcement, the separation between the two services will continue to grow. Even customers who subscribe separately to both services still will have to use two completely different websites to log in and use each service.
The famous Netflix.com website will be joined by Qwikster.com, and even rating movies will be carried out completely independently on each of the sites.
Loading up Qwikster’s page, a screen currently appears that simply says “Launching Soon,” and no timeline has been presented by Netflix for its launch.
Hastings announced that in addition to DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, Qwikster will now also offer games for Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3. However, in what is sure to grate customers even further, the company will again charge an extra monthly fee.
Hastings wrote on the company’s blog: “Members have been asking for video games for many years, and now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done.”
Competition in the industry is hotting up however, as Dish Network, which recently acquired Blockbuster, has been rumored to soon release its own movie-streaming service in direct competition with Netflix.
