Netflix is making it official with a feature we’ve seen being beta tested over time. The shuffle play feature will launch for all users in the first half of 2021, Netflix shared in an investor interview Tuesday, as reported by Variety.
Netflix has been experimenting with a shuffle feature for quite a while, with a prompt to “Play a Random Episode” popping up for some users in April 2019 and a “Shuffle Play” button being tested in August 2020.
“It’s really working for us where our members can basically indicate to us that they just want to skip browsing entirely, click one button and we’ll pick a title for them just to instantly play,” said Greg Peters, COO and chief product officer, describing the feature during the Q4 call.
With Netflix’s huge content library, it can be difficult to find hidden gems or to choose from all the options. The streaming service hopes to make the process easier for subscribers by offering up titles related to previously watched content and viewing preferences with features like this.
Now that the feature has been confirmed, there’s still the question of what it will be called. Co-CEO Reed Hastings joked that Netflix will copy Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” feature that takes searchers straight to the top search result on the list, but Peter’s shot down that idea.
“We’re going to come up with something better than that, so stand by for this. You’ll see it when it rolls out,” Peters assured Hastings and listeners on the call.