Black Mirror Is Surviving Netflix’s Interactive Specials Purge

As part of its shift away from producing interactive content, Netflix has revealed which titles will soon be removed from its library—and which few have made the cut to stick around. Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the lucky remainders is probably the streamer’s highest-profile venture into the interactive medium, 2018’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

The Verge confirmed that of the 24 interactive titles currently visible on Netflix’s “Interactive Specials” content page, just these four will be staying past December 1: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and another Bear Grylls survival special, You vs. Wild. Bidding farewell are mostly titles aimed at younger viewers, including 2022’s Jurassic Park Camp Cretaceous: Hidden Adventure.

The Verge also points to a Game File report from early 2024, in which Netflix’s Mike Verdu (formerly head of gaming, now “VP, GenAI for Games” at the streamer, according to a Linkedin post) said the company would be shifting away from interactive storytelling as part of its games, too.

But in the same interview, Verdu also called Bandersnatch “a phenomenal experience”—a sentiment shared by many Black Mirror fans, and no doubt a big reason why the special is sticking around.

Another reason is surely Black Mirror’s continuing presence on Netflix; after 2023’s thought-provoking sixth season, creator Charlie Brooker confirmed a seventh season of the dystopian (but often eerily prescient) series would arrive in 2025. It’ll boast a star-studded cast and one of the episodes will serve as a sequel—a Black Mirror first—to season four standout “USS Callister,” which won four Emmy Awards.

But as for future interactive Black Mirror episodes—well, you’ll simply have to chart a new narrative through Bandersnatch‘s increasingly surreal video game creation plot to scratch that itch.

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