11 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Netflix

With nearly 150 million subscribers around the world, Netflix has a commanding lead in the streaming wars. But it’s also facing heavy competition from deep-pocketed conglomerates like Disney, Apple, and AT&T, and an ongoing wave of narrow, targeted streaming sites like CBS All Access and DC Universe, which can draw on popular existing franchises for original content. As fewer companies are willing to license out their films and shows to other streaming sites, Netflix is pouring billions of dollars annually into its own original content. Follow along with The Verge as we look at Netflix’s new films and shows, its evolving strategies against new entrants in the market, and how it’s leveraging its technological and marketing lead.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
“It’s a Super Bowl-like audience that we were able to draw for this fight.”

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos spoke during the UBS conference about technical issues that impacted the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, and said the company is interested in doing more “big scale live events” like the upcoming Christmas Day Games.

“We were stressing the limits of the internet itself that night. So we had a control room up in Silicon Valley that was re-engineering the entire internet to keep it during this fight because of the unprecedented demand that was happening.”

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
The trilogy is complete.

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can now check out Monument Valley 3, which takes the beloved puzzle franchise in some interesting new directions. It’s available on both iOS and Android.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Can Netflix make a full Monument Valley series next?

After seeing this animated short to promote Monument Valley 3, I’d watch 10 others like it.

Monument Valley 3 comes to Netflix with an iconoclastic edge

Ustwo returns with a sequel that looks to evolve the puzzle franchise, all while continuing to offer a sanctuary in your pocket.

Lewis Gordon
Netflix’s Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld is a fresh remix of Buffy-style monster slaying

Jentry Chau vs. The Underworld’s first season feels like a classic monster slaying story remixed for a new generation.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Player 456 has joined the game.

We don’t know exactly what it will look like, but Call of Duty will feature some kind of Squid Game collaboration in January that covers both Warzone and Black Ops 6. That’s right after season 2 of the show hits Netflix on December 26th.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Arcane’s creative team stuck to a very simple rule to make its multiverse work.

Arcane’s final season featured one of the better examples of how universe-hopping really can bring some depth to a character’s story. And in a new interview with Polygon, writer / co-executive producer producer Amanda Overton explains how “making it feel like the fabric of that episode is absolutely interconnected to the rest of the season” was essential to making this multiverse work.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
“Put me back in the game.”

I’m still not really sure why Player 456 is heading back for season 2 of Squid Game, but the new trailer at least gives a good sense of what he’s in for. The show premieres in one month, hitting Netflix on December 26th.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
WWE’s Netflix debut is a little over a month away.

Monday Night Raw starts streaming live on Netflix on January 6th, 2025, and the streamer just released its first trailer for the show:

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Scott Pilgrim lands.

The Netflix animated series was a clever reinvention of Scott Pilgrim, but according to creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, the story in season 1 of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is all we’re getting.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Pokémon Horizons is heading to the land of Laqua next February.

Though the excellent Pokétoon web series has just wrapped for the season, Netflix is getting ready to drop the next chapter of its (very different, but still very good) mainline Pokémon anime that will follow as Liko (Alejandra Reynoso), Roy (Anjali Kunapaneni), and Dot (Faye Mata) set out to find the legendary land of Laqua. The new episodes are scheduled to debut on February 7th.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Netflix’s Squid Game mobile game is coming out soon.

Squid Game: Unleashed, a “multiplayer battle royale game,” will be released for Netflix subscribers on December 17th, nine days before the launch of season 2 of the show.

Honestly, I don’t think Unleashed looks very good. But Netflix’s mobile games lineup has certified bangers like The Rise of the Golden Idol, so if Unleashed is a bust, there’s other things to play.

Umar Shakir
Umar Shakir
Shah Rukh Khan is producing a new Netflix series set in Bollywood.

Is it a reality show? A mockumentary? A desi Entourage? Maybe a serialized reboot of Om Shanti Om? Whatever this untitled Indian “multi-genre” series is, it’s coming in 2025. Netflix is seeing huge viewership in global markets.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Good news for Squid Game season 2.

There’s a reason Netflix is investing so much in Korea, and it’s not just because of Squid Game: the streamer says that 80 percent of its users are watching Korean programming. In fact, while detailing its upcoming slate of international movies and shows, Netflix revealed how global its audience is, claiming “more than 70 percent of all viewing on Netflix is either with subs or dubs.”

A promotional image from Netflix, revealing that 80 percent of subscribers watch Korean content.
Image: Netflix
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL broadcast includes a Beyoncé halftime show.

Despite the glitches in its Tyson-Paul livestream that pulled in more than 60 million viewers, Netflix is pushing forward to another major live event with two exclusive NFL broadcasts on Christmas Day.

And now the streamer has announced that Beyoncé will perform at halftime of the second game, as the Houston Texans host the Baltimore Ravens starting at 4:30PM ET on December 25th.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Warwick, is that you?

Act One of Arcane’s final season closed out on a shot that lent even more credence to fans’ theories about how Warwick might be introduced into the series. And it seems like after Act Two drops this weekend, we’ll know how the werewolf came to be.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Hwang Dong-hyuk put his blood, sweat, and teeth into Squid Game.

Between being paid a pittance for creating Squid Game and losing multiple teeth from stress during the first season’s production, it would be understandable if Hwang Dong-hyuk had walked away from his hit franchise.

But in a new interview with The BBC, he explains that the streamer’s choice to finally push some serious cash his way is what brought him back for season 2.

Arcane’s second season is a revolutionary powderkeg

Arcane’s final season puts an even finer point on its story about revolutionary war.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Arcane reportedly cost Riot $250 million to produce.

At 18 episodes, the League of Legends spinoff has become the most expensive animated series ever produced, Variety reports. Despite the heavy spending and the earlier-than-expected series finale, Riot co-founder Marc Merrill told Variety that the company’s “ambitions in entertainment haven’t changed:”

What did change as we learned more was our expectations of ourselves: We realized that getting it right takes a lot more time than we’d originally expected, and so we recalibrated our development, output goals and teams with that in mind.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Netflix’s European branch is being investigated for tax fraud.

Though Netflix insists that it has been following tax law to the tee, the BBC reports that the streamer’s European headquarters in Amsterdam and its office in Paris were raided as part of an investigation into whether it has been “covering up serious tax fraud and off-the-books work.”

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
The Scavengers Reign may be over.

When Netflix picked up the streaming rights to the sci-fi series, there was hope that it would lead to a renewal for season 2. Unfortunately, according to co-creator Joe Bennett, that’s not the case — though they aren’t giving up yet. “There is more story to be told,” he said, “we are ready to make another season.” Here’s a teaser of what that might look like.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
The shows on Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ jealousy list.

During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sarandos was asked which series he wished Netflix produced:

I love The Bear. I wish that was one of ours. Ted Lasso spoke to the time really well. People were looking for something light and fun, and it was just that.

You can check out the full interview below.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Netflix’s Lara Croft is sticking around to raid even more tombs.

Netflix has renewed Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft for a second season that will follow as Lara (Hayley Atwell) “discovers a trail of stolen African Orisha masks.” Sounds like the show might be gesturing towards a bit of Britain’s real-world history of looting the continent.

A woman holding a bar looking at a woman holding an ice climbing axe.
A still from Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’s second season.
Netflix
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Netflix is getting a daily word game from TED.

“Slide rows of scrambled letters to spell words in this thought-provoking word puzzle game from TED,” according to the App Store description for the new game, TED Tumblewords. Seems like the game is trying to be Netflix’s Wordle.

The new game is set to launch on November 19th on Android and iOS, though you’ll need a Netflix subscription to be able to play it.

Screenshots of TED Tumblewords.
Images: Netflix