How Blacknut Creates Accessible & Consistent Video Game Streaming Platform

Blacknut was founded in 2016. What was the original vision behind focusing on families and the general public rather than hardcore gamers? What gap did you identify?

Olivier Avaro, CEO and Founder of Blacknut: When we started Blacknut in 2016, cloud gaming was already being discussed, but almost exclusively through the lens of hardcore gamers – high-end PCs, competitive play, cutting-edge performance. What struck me was that this represented only a small fraction of the potential audience for games.

The gap was very clear: millions of households wanted easy access to games, but without expensive hardware, complex setups, or aggressive monetization models. Families, casual players, parents, and even non-gamers were largely excluded from the conversation.

Our original vision was to make gaming as accessible as streaming video – press a button, play instantly, no console, no downloads, no friction. By focusing on the general public, we could build a service around discovery, trust, and simplicity, rather than performance arms races. That choice shaped everything: our catalog, our pricing, our UX, and even our partnerships.

You’ve pursued a dual distribution model – direct-to-consumer and B2B partnerships. How did you arrive at this hybrid strategy, and what advantages has it given you?

Olivier Avaro: Very early on, we realized that distribution would be the real battleground in cloud gaming, not just technology. If your service is difficult to find or requires consumers to actively search for it, adoption remains limited.

The hybrid model emerged naturally. Direct-to-consumer allows us to maintain a strong brand, understand player behavior, and innovate quickly. But B2B partnerships – ISPs, Smart TV manufacturers, telcos, and OTT platforms – give us scale and visibility that no pure DTC strategy can achieve alone.

The advantage is twofold:

• We reduce customer acquisition costs by embedding Blacknut directly into devices and services people already use.
• We benefit from partners who have trusted relationships with millions of households.

Competitors who rely solely on subscriptions often face high churn and marketing costs. Our model allows us to grow sustainably while adapting to different markets and business realities.

Your catalog now exceeds 1,000 games and is “carefully curated for the whole family.” What’s your curation philosophy?

Olivier Avaro: Curation is absolutely central to Blacknut – it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. And there are so many amazing games out there! 

Our philosophy is simple: every game is vetted and selected by our licensing team. We look at age accessibility, gameplay clarity, creative diversity, and long-term engagement. We want a catalog where ANYONE (parent, a teenager, roommates) can all find something meaningful – without feeling overwhelmed.

Balancing age groups means combining:

• Family-friendly and kids’ content
• Indie creativity and mid-core depth
• Recognizable franchises and hidden gems

Blacknut reaches over 100 million Smart TVs. Why prioritize Smart TV integration, and how has this TV-first approach shaped the product? Is it difficult working with large manufacturers?

Olivier Avaro: The TV is still the most shared screen in the household, and yet gaming historically required additional hardware. That contradiction made Smart TVs an obvious priority for us.

By going TV-first, we designed Blacknut around simplicity, instant play, and controller flexibility – whether with a gamepad or a smartphone as a controller. This forced us to be extremely disciplined in UX and performance.

Working with large manufacturers is challenging, of course. They do have strong bargaining power and very high standards. But our advantage is that we solve a real problem for them: adding interactive content with no hardware dependency and strong family appeal.

Trust takes time, but once established, these partnerships become long-term and strategic.

You use a “public-private cloud infrastructure.” Can you explain how this helps address latency and performance challenges?

Olivier Avaro: Infrastructure is also one of the biggest challenges in cloud gaming, and our hybrid public-private cloud infrastructure addresses several issues:

1. Allowing for flexibility regarding hardware as we are natively multi-cloud platform 
2. Balancing speed of deployment in specific regions to provide great latency & performance with cost effectiveness (ergo Private Cloud when we need it, Public Cloud when it is present – so our balance is Opex-based (Public Cloud) vs Capex (Private Cloud), we grow the Capex only as the service requires to ensure maximum efficiency)

Blacknut operates in 65+ countries. How do you manage consistent streaming quality across such diverse regions?

Olivier Avaro: Global consistency is one of the hardest challenges in cloud gaming.

We approach it with regionalization rather than standardization. That means adapting infrastructure, codecs, bitrates, and even UX flows to local realities. A player in Western Europe does not have the same constraints as one in Southeast Asia or MENA.

We also rely heavily on local partners – ISPs and telcos – to optimize routing and peering. Cloud gaming cannot succeed globally without strong local collaboration.

2025 Jio-Blacknut Partnership

You now work with over 150 publishers. What’s your pitch, and how do you differentiate Blacknut as a distribution channel?

Olivier Avaro: Our pitch is straightforward: Blacknut unlocks new audiences and more devices – and we do it all with no additional development costs. 

We reach players who don’t own consoles or gaming PCs, who may never have bought these games otherwise. For publishers, this means incremental revenue, extended catalog life, and access to family and casual segments that are traditionally hard to reach.

Unlike traditional platforms, we handle curation, promotion, localization, and discovery. Unlike some cloud services, we are not competing with publishers – we are enabling them. This ensures that we don’t cannibalize existing business.

Some of Blacknut’s Current Publisher Partners

You’ve introduced premium add-on Passes like Ubisoft+, SNK, and Focus. How does this tiered approach benefit everyone involved?

Olivier Avaro: The Pass model gives players choice and flexibility. They can enjoy a broad catalog through the core subscription and opt into premium content if they want deeper or franchise-specific experiences.

For publishers, Passes offer brand visibility, better segmentation, and dedicated monetization without diluting value. For Blacknut, it diversifies revenue streams while preserving our accessible entry point.

This model will be a key pillar of our future monetization strategy.

In 2025, you launched ZAP!, a free, ad-powered cloud gaming option. What drove this decision?

Olivier Avaro: ZAP! came from a simple insight: price is still a barrier for many potential players.

Ad-supported gaming allows us to introduce cloud gaming at zero cost while keeping the experience controlled and brand-safe. Importantly, it acts as a funnel, not a replacement. Free users convert to subscriptions when they want longer sessions, premium content, or an ad-free experience.

We see it as complementary, not cannibalistic.

Looking ahead, what are your key priorities for the next 2-3 years?

Olivier Avaro: Our priorities are balanced across three axes:

• Deepening device and TV partnerships
• Expanding selectively into high-potential markets
• Continuously improving performance and UX

Cloud gaming is no longer about proving it works – it does. The next phase is about scale, sustainability, and everyday usage.

In the next 2–3 years, our ambition is to make Blacknut a default gaming option on TVs and other devices worldwide, just as streaming apps are today – quietly present, instantly accessible, and universally trusted.

Olivier Avaro, CEO and Founder of Blacknut