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Paid episode

The full episode is only available to paid subscribers of The Medium from PARQOR

The Business Of Culture Is The Business Of Engagement... Is The Business Of Gaming?

Netflix, Meta push their business models towards gaming, while EA leverages gaming to push into sports streaming

The Medium identifies essential signals on how technology is shaping the business of culture, and how the marketplace is evolving in response.


[Author’s Note: I am including the first 10 minutes of the Q2 2025 Update for PARQOR Platinum Subscribers.

You also may now access the presentation I used for the Q2 2025 Update via DocSend. It will require you enter email address (that helps me track which subscribers downloaded it).

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Anyone listening to recent earnings calls with Meta and Netflix would conclude that the business of culture is the business of engagement.

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently told investors “what we're trying to do is entertain the world”—over 302 million members—and so engagement is measured by “people pushing play and sticking around for the things that they love”.

Meta’s messaging around its 3.43 billion daily active people is more complex. It told investors that the two “primary factors” driving its revenue performance are: Its “ability to deliver engaging experiences” for the Meta community and its effectiveness at monetizing that engagement over time.

The core message: In an emerging world of more direct-to-consumer (DTC) business models and artificial intelligence (AI) tools, culture will be dictated by engagement alone.

But, not just any engagement: Gaming specifically.

Engagement = Gaming

Gaming is a common theme in both Netflix’s and Meta’s growth stories for investors.

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