Netflix is removing almost all of its interactive titles

Share this Article:

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch will soon be one of the only interactive titles on Netflix as the streamer pulls them from the platform.

There was a time when it seemed like interactive titles would be the future of streaming. Black Mirror tapped into the trend with their interactive title Bandersnatch which allowed the viewer – Player? Controller? – to destroy poor Stefan’s (Fionn Whitehead) life in multiple different ways.

The trend never really took off though and Netflix is now doing a bit of winter cleaning on their servers. The streamer is removing most of its interactive titles as reported by The Verge this December. Of the 24 interactive titles Netflix has on the platform, only four will remain after 1st December. Those four are Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and You vs. Wild.

“The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” Netflix spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher commented.

The interactive storytelling mode has been much more successful in video games with titles such as Until Dawn, Life Is Strange, Beyond Two Souls and Heavy Rain enjoying critical and commercial success. Netflix’s first interactive title was Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale in 2017, followed by Bandersnatch in 2018.

We reported earlier that Netflix would focus on AI when it comes to its gaming efforts with former Netflix Games VP Mike Verdu now holding the title “vice president for genAI for games”. The announcement came days after Netflix closed one of its major internal studios, Team Blue, resulting in the loss of around 35 jobs.

Netflix is following in the footsteps of Disney+, another streamer that has deleted a lot of its original films and TV shows for cost-cutting reasons.

Share this Article:

Squid Game season 2 set for December, season 3 to end the series
Netflix has set the release date for Squid Game season 2 for late December and announced that season 3 will be its last. Fans have been feverishly waiting for news on Squid Game season 2. Netflix has been very tight-lipped about its history-making Korean thriller, but we finally have an update on when we can return [...]
Spellbound | First trailer lands for Netflix’s star-studded animation
Netflix has dropped the first look at its upcoming animated fantasy, Spellbound. Here's a colourful new trailer: Last year, Netflix vowed to focus on quality over quantity, and Spellbound is its latest animated film. To remind us of this, the streaming behemoth has just released the first trailer for the Skydance Animation production. Spellbound is directed by [...]
Nobody Wants This trailer | Kristen Bell falls for a rabbi in new Netflix comedy series
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star in Erin Foster’s romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This. Check out the trailer below. Nobody Wants This is Netflix’s upcoming romantic comedy series, and it follows pretty standard rom-com tropes: girl meets boy, girl falls for the boy, boy is a rabbi while the girl is an agnostic with a [...]
Apollo 13: Survival review | Breathless documentary retells a bloody good yarn
Sometimes, a really great story needs telling more than once. Here's our Apollo 13: Survival review. The first problem with making a documentary about the Apollo 13 mission is Ron Howard’s already stolen the best title. The second problem is he stole most of the facts, too. With a story as remarkable as this one, the [...]
Zack Snyder’s next project could be a UFC film
Following his Rebel Moon films, Zack Snyder is going smaller - and a UFC movie looks to be his next choice. More here. Over the last couple of decades, Zack Snyder has become synonymous with effects-driven films. 2006's 300 really pushed him into a career that would includes lots of heavily-stylised superhero and action movies. With the [...]