Mike Verdu, a former Facebook and Electronic Arts employee, has been hired as Netflix’s new vice president of game development, according to Bloomberg.

Verdu, who oversaw the development of mobile games like Plants vs. Zombies 2 and The Sims Freeplay, will work with Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters in the coming months as the business aims to expand its video game division, according to a source.

Netflix is expected to launch video games on the platform in 2022, according to reports. Despite the fact that the expansion may justify a price hike, a Netflix insider told Bloomberg that the company has no plans to charge extra for the new material, a move which if done, will differentiate itself from rival streaming services such as Apple who currently charge a fee for the service.

Over the previous few years, Netflix has experimented with interactive programming, most notably with its choose-your-own-adventure technology, which was included in Stranger Things and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. However, in recent months, the streaming giant has teased a full-fledged gaming department in order to preserve its competitive advantage.

During Netflix’s quarterly earnings report in April, Greg Peters said:

“We’re in the business of creating these amazing, deep universes and compelling characters and people come to love those universes and want to immerse themselves more deeply and get to know the characters better.

“We’re trying to figure out all of the different ways that we can increase those points of connection and deepen that fandom and certainly games is a really interesting component of that. There’s no doubt that games are going to be an important form of entertainment and important modality to deepen that fan experience so we’re going to keep going.”

The news comes days after it was reported that Netflix is looking to add some sort of gaming development to its extended contract with Shonda Rhimes which will include feature films.

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