Update 9/05 — The interactive experiments at Netflix are well and truly over. The streaming platform has announced that the last two programs still playable will soon be removed from the catalog. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend will bow out on May 12. Netflix declined to give a reason for the removal, but it's possible the service's new TV interface played a role.
Original article, 5/11/24 — Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, this episode of the famous Netflix series, made a splash at the end of 2018 because it was an interactive video: the viewer can decide the fate of the heroes, which will lead to one of the five possible endings of the storyline. This content caused a stir at the time, but it also marked the beginning of the end for interactive videos on Netflix. No other has been able to match the fervor—albeit relatively modest—of Bandersnatch.
Interactive videos have had their day
Netflix has 24 interactive videos in its catalog; soon there will be only 4 left, including this episode of Black Mirror. In March 2019, Netflix announced that it would double its efforts to produce such content. But clearly, the promise was hollow, and soon there will be little left of this original initiative, which began in 2017 with an interactive episode of Puss in Boots.
"The technology served its purpose," a Netflix spokesperson told The Verge. "But it's limiting us now, as we focus our technology efforts elsewhere."
This decision does not affect mobile games, whose selection continues to grow. Some can even be played on smart TVs. However, that didn't stop Netflix from closing down Blue, an in-house studio responsible for developing AAA games, before it even released its first title.
Source: The Verge
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