Those last two specials are probably the most prominent from Netflix’s experimentation era. Bandersnatch got a spin-off in the most recent season of Black Mirror, and Kimmy Vs. The Reverend served as the final-ever installment of the comedy series. Both specials were nominated for Emmy Awards, with Bandersnatch winning the Outstanding Television Movie trophy in 2019.
Despite those early successes, the company has been slowly phasing its interactive stuff out for a while now. Netflix began dabbling in the space with 2017’s Puss In Book: Trapped In An Epic Tale. Over the years the interactive library expanded to include a couple dozen films and episodes, including The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!, Ranveer Vs. Wild With Bear Grylls, romantic comedy Choose Love, and more. The streamer apparently halted efforts for interactive shows and movies around 2023, and removed most of the titles in late 2024. “The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told The Verge last year.
What’s On Netflix reports that the platform is soon to undergo a redesign, with the implication that interactive content like Bandersnatch will be incompatible with the new user interface. However, Netflix isn’t entirely out of the interactive business, as it has invested heavily in gaming over the last four years. The platform currently hosts more than 120 exclusive mobile games, with original titles and ones based on Netflix’s film and television library (Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Electric State). Netflix’s head of gaming Mike Verdu told Game File’s Stephen Totilo that the company “learned a ton” from its early interactive experiments. “Where you’re going to see that learning come to life is actually in these interactive narrative games,” he said, citing games based on reality shows Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle. “It will start to feel more and more like you really are playing the show. I think that’s sort of the spiritual evolution of what you saw there. But we learned a ton. And Bandersnatch is a phenomenal experience.” Better go check out that phenomenal experience while you still can!
