Latest news with #ChrissyKelleher
The Verge
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Netflix is removing Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
Netflix is removing the last two shows listed on its Interactive Specials page: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, reports What's on Netflix. The two specials will be pulled on May 12th, 2025, according to the publication, so if you want to watch them, you'll want to catch them soon. Bandersnatch wasn't Netflix's first interactive special, but it was arguably the platform's most famous. It was a dark, choose-your-own-adventure-style movie, and after it launched, Reddit detectives immediately went to work to decode the many choices throughout the film. (Though it didn't work on every device that could play Netflix.) As of late, however, Netflix has been moving in a different direction with its interactive experiences, focusing more on its mobile games library (which has a Black Mirror -themed game) and testing cloud-streamed games over TVs. The new design for Netflix on TVs was even created in part to help people better find games they might like. The removals perhaps shouldn't be surprising following Netflix's decision late last year to pull all but four of its interactive specials from its catalog. 'The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,' spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told me ahead of those removals. The other two interactive shows that stuck around were Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and You vs. Wild. What's on Netflix says they were removed in January of this year, but I'm seeing non-interactive versions of the show available to watch.
Engadget
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Black Mirror's Bandersnatch is leaving Netflix for good
Netflix has been gradually culling its library of interactive content for a while now, but Black Mirror 's Emmy award winning Bandersnatch was one of the few survivors. Until now. As spotted by What's on Netflix , the choose-your-own-adventure film set in a fictional game development studio will be leaving the service globally on May 12. At the beginning of December 2024, only four of Netflix's 'Interactive Specials' remained, of which Bandersnatch was one. As of today there are only two left. The other is Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend , which first debuted back in 2020 and is also being removed imminently. Netflix's first interactive effort was 2017's Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale , but Bandersnatch , which arrived the following year, was the first to be targeted at an adult audience, and arguably the company's most successful of these experiments. Set in the UK in the mid-80s, it follows a young programmer who sets out to adapt a dark fantasy novel into a story-driven video game, before things inevitably take a dark turn. The film featured multiple endings and branching paths based on the decisions you made, and went on to win two Primetime Emmy Awards. Which probably leaves you wondering why Netflix is getting rid of it. Back in December, company spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told The Verge that the technology had 'served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas.' Actual video games still feature prominently in the overhauled Netflix TV app, which the company has been working on since last year and will roll out over the coming weeks and months. It is also experimenting with a vertical video feature on mobile that will include clips and trailers, presumably to appeal more to the native TikTok audience. Just don't expect to see Bandersnatch in there.
