Czech board game Codenames is coming to Netflix, but not for all

The board game Codenames (Krycí jména), created by Czech designer Vlaada Chvátil and published by Prague-based studio Czech Games Edition, is heading to Netflix — the world's biggest streaming service reached out to the company itself with a proposal to work together.

The game, which has sold almost 20 million copies and has previously partnered with Marvel, Harry Potter and Disney, will now join Netflix's games catalog, which the streamer is building alongside its films and series. “Netflix contacted us first. At first we even thought it might be some kind of fake,” CGE marketing manager Ondřej Skácel told CzechCrunch.

The company is betting on cloud gaming — the ability to play directly in a browser with no download or installation, much like streaming a TV series. Codenames is set to become one of the new platform's flagship offerings over the holiday season. Notably, Netflix didn't simply license an existing product for this — a dedicated digital version, Codenames Party, designed for groups of friends gathered around a TV screen, was developed jointly by CGE's engineers and Netflix's team, who were already familiar with the game's mobile version.

There is a catch, though: the new version will only be available in markets where Netflix is testing cloud gaming — and for now, that doesn't include Czechia. “But if the service does launch in Czechia, we'll translate the game into Czech and offer it here too,” promises CGE founder and CEO Petr Murmak.

Financially, the deal won't be a breakthrough for the company — Skácel admits the tabletop version brings in far more revenue, while the Netflix deal covers development costs and promises ongoing licensing payments. Czech Games Edition's most recent annual revenue came to 222 million crowns. What matters far more is the prestige: the chance to introduce a Czech game to tens, if not hundreds, of millions of the service's subscribers, many of whom don't normally play video games at all.