“You invited us into your home, and now we welcome you into ours.”
That's the guiding principle behind Netflix House, a brand-new entertainment destination entirely centered around many of the streaming giant's most popular games, including Stranger Things, Squid game, One piece And Wednesday. Earlier this week I got to attend the grand opening of the first ever Netflix House in Philadelphia and was quite impressed by the ambitious scope of it all.
First of all: this massive. Located in the King of Prussia Mall in Philadelphia, the fourth largest shopping center in the United States, the Netflix House is a two-story, 100,000-square-foot building. feet, which houses all kinds of entertainment venues. The ground floor has everything: from spacious One piece quest room and Emily in Paris pop up flower window in miniature Wednesday: Rogue's Eve experience a fully interactive festival featuring the Nevermore Academ, a variety of carnival games, and the 229-seat Tudum Theater, which will be used for fan screenings of Netflix titles such as K-Pop Demon Hunters.
Some decorations can be seen on the walls and ceilings of the Netflix House.
Meanwhile, the second floor is also packed. If you're hungry, there's Netflix Bites. an eatery serving food and drinks based on a variety of Netflix games.from the more obvious (Scoops Ahoy ice cream from Stranger Things) to the more unexpected (homemade chips with onion sauce, inspired Glass Bow: The Mystery of the Knives). Also on the top floor is a huge store featuring merchandise from various Netflix games (roughly 70 percent of the merchandise is exclusive to the Philadelphia location), a nine-hole miniature golf course and courses inspired by games such as Stranger Things, One piece, Is this a cake? And WWEand virtual reality experiences based on Stranger Things, Squid game And Rebel Moon.
“We've done a few activations for fans of shows and movies at launch, but they're usually one day or a weekend away—they're pretty ephemeral,” Marian Lee, Netflix's chief marketing officer, says of the inspiration behind Netflix House during a roundtable interview.
She points to Stranger Things the drive-in experience that Netflix held in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and became a key inspiration for Netflix House. “The number of people lining up to take part in something that was part of the general community around Stranger Things was so big that they couldn't even get out of their cars. So at that moment they felt like they were on to something.”
Netflix House has a lot of KPop Demon Hunters merchandise as well as merchandise based on other games.
In the following years, Netflix hosted over 40 different events in hundreds of cities around the world, including the Royal Ball for Bridgerton, Game “Squid”: experience And Ideal snack For Knives out (who still works in Toronto). All of this led to Netflix wanting to provide fans with a more permanent physical experience, and Lee says that, along with the massive King of Prussia Mall real estate, led to the creation of this first-ever Netflix Home. Additionally, a second location will open next month in Dallas and a third on the Las Vegas Strip will open sometime in 2027, and all three locations will have different experiences. (Naturally, the company is waiting to see how these sites perform before embarking on potential international expansion.)
“I do think there's some nostalgia for the younger generation who spend all their time online, wanting to have something physical, in real life, to go through something, to touch something, a place to hang out,” says Netflix House's Lee. “So I think there's been a resurgence of people spending time in places like the mall or walking down the street and having somewhere to go. So for us, it's about capitalizing on places where we can deliver that real-life experience.”
After visiting the Netflix House earlier in the day before returning for a more crowded evening reception, it's easy to see what Lee means. Admittedly, many experiences are geared more toward Netflix series than movies, and because I'm one of those who prefer the lattersome of the Netflix House highlights that didn't necessarily appeal to me personally, e.g. Wednesday And One piece. (It's also funny to consider that one of the virtual reality experiences is based on Rebel Moonseries that nobodyexcept for cult Zack Snyder fans, love it.)
But the level of thought and attention to detail that went into the entire Netflix House establishment is simply undeniable. In the experience itself, this may mean that you will see Monkey D. Luffy himself, Iñaki Godoy, appear during One Piece: Quest for Devil Fruit an escape room close to recognizable locations such as Alvida's Hideout and Arlong Park. Wednesday: Rogue's EveMeanwhile, it features both carnival games in a suitably gothic festival setting that even I could appreciate, as well as a larger mystery involving the Thing.
Not to mention the production design of all these flagship games. When you enter the Netflix House, you'll see walls decorated with… Wednesday's Thing, pirate ships from One piece, K-Pop Demon HuntersHuntrix Trio, Young Hee from Squid game and even Eddie Munson's guitar from Stranger Things. Going up to the second floor, you will find Bridgerton– themed royal compositions of flowers and chairs on which you can take pictures. Netflix Bites features animated neon signs and other props with fun references like “Throw a fillet to your witcher” ( witcher), Squid gameRed Guards on a smoking spit, as well as my favorite Netflix series: BoJack Horseman (“What is this, BREAKFAST?”).
Netflix House was also designed with some degree of modularity in mind. After all, the company notes that it doesn't always know when a new show might premiere and become a worldwide hit. A key example of this is K-Pop Demon Hunterswhich premiered in June as Netflix House was nearing completion. While the company naturally couldn't suddenly add a customized experience on the scale of what it offers to companies like One piece And WednesdayOf course, decorations could be added such as paintings and product placement in the store. Going forward, the streamer says it will make similar changes to Netflix House in response to the popularity of new games.
Mini golf features games such as Stranger Things, WWE, One Piece and Is It Cake?
Another interesting thing about Netflix House is how Netflix is actually marketing it. Namely, the place itself is free to enter, meaning it could theoretically attract everyone from hardcore fans to people just shopping at the mall. This means that even a low-income teenager Wednesday a fan can at least walk in, admire all this splendor, and then leave. Or perhaps you're a movie buff like me and only want to come to the screening at the Tudum Theater, and Netflix is already promising a regular lineup of movies that will occasionally include special guests and post-screening Q&As. And since Netflix House isn't structured like, say, a Disney theme park, you can simply pay a la carte for a premium experience, be it personalized entertainment or even just stopping by for food.
For example, you can come and just play mini golf, which starts at $15 USD (about $21 CAD), or play one of the roughly hour-long VR games, which start at $25 USD (about $35 CAD). Meanwhile, the longer and more difficult Wednesday And One piece Experiences start at $39 USD (about $55 CAD). While it's certainly a little more expensive than you'd pay for traditional offerings of these types of experiences, it makes sense to pay more to get them depending on the properties, and considering how popular they are, it's certainly worth it for many fans.
“That’s why we made admission free and open to the public—we wanted that accessibility,” Lee says. “We want to be a casual place. You can come in, you can spend hours, you can spend 10 minutes. You can grab a bite to eat or buy a gift for a friend and not play anything. Or you can come back when you have more time. It's what you make of it, and we wanted it to be a very personal, personalized experience for everyone.”
Netflix bites.
After spending most of the day in the Netflix House, I have to agree with Lee. There is a commendable variety of experiences on offer here, ensuring that you can return multiple times and do something new each time. And considering how many new programs Netflix regularly releases, it's interesting to think about how they might evolve in the next release. K-Pop Demon Hunters-esque hit
If there's one thing working against Netflix House, it's that the timing of its launch is rather unfortunate, considering how increasingly unsafe the US is becoming due to the government's fascist actions. For this reason, I cannot in good conscience recommend going there for any reason, let alone as an entertainment venue. But if for some reason you're still ready, willing and able to travel, Netflix House is definitely worth a visit. The Philadelphia location means it's also conveniently located close to New York City for those potentially making long trips across the state. (And as the aforementioned movie buff, I also thoroughly enjoyed visiting the iconic “Rocky Steps” in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.)
Overall, Netflix House is an incredibly promising new venture, and I hope Netflix continues to expand it to other cities, including Canada. Netflix House is now open to the public. More information about event tickets can be found on the website Netflix website.
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