In 2008, the mail-order DVD rental service Netflix cut a deal with Microsoft to give the Xbox 360 exclusive rights to distribute a downloadable Netflix app as a means of promoting the company's nascent streaming functionality. Because of this arrangement, when Netflix made similar deals to offer their services on the competing PlayStation 3 and Wii in March 2010, the company initially distributed game discs to subscribers which would boot up Netflix on those consoles, circumventing the terms of the Xbox deal by avoiding the use of a downloadable app. The disc versions of Netflix lacked several features compared to the Xbox 360 version, such as a search bar and the ability to toggle closed captioning. In October 2010, the exclusivity deal with Microsoft lapsed, and support for the PS3 and Wii discs were terminated in favor of the downloadable app with an updated user interface and the full set of features. A disc version of the Netflix app for the PlayStation 2 was also distributed in Brazil the following year, but completely ceased support in 2012.

Additionally, the Wii version of the Netflix app was limited by the fact that the Wii could only output a maximum resolution of 480p, compared to the 1080p maximum offered by competing systems. Both Netflix and Nintendo defended the restriction, claiming that the vast majority of streamable content on Netflix at the time was only available in standard definition and that the minority of high-definition content present was only available in 720p.