Netflix is dropping nearly all of its “Interactive Specials” on December 1st, the company has confirmed. Netflix has released 24 games – the most famous being Black Mirror: Bandersnatch – but next month, only four of them will remain. Bandersnatch is one of them, along with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and You vs. Wild.
A spokesperson for Netflix confirmed this mass removal to reporters from The Verge this week, saying: “The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas.” It’s hard to say how successful these interactive specials were, but most commenters see this as confirmation that they were not worth the cost to produce them. As far as movies and TV shows go, these were very experimental, but when it comes to Netflix Games, this was a clever way for the streamer to play to its strengths.
Some of the interactive specials leaving Netflix next month have major franchise tie-ins, including Carmen Sandiego and Boss Baby. The company’s very first special of this kind was Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale back in 2017. However, that was removed from Netflix earlier this year.
Netflix has been trying to break into the gaming industry for at least three years now, often focusing on mobile games to be played within the Netflix mobile app. It has been able to capitalize on its own original intellectual property and certain licensing deals, and it framed the Netflix subscription price as a savings compared to the price of other games. The company has focused more and more on games based on its own reality shows, like Love is Blind, indicating that those have been successful.
The company’s more ambitious plans have faltered. Netflix opened a studio called Blue with the hope of breaking into AAA gaming, but just last month, it shut the project down before it could release a single game. The studio had some experienced creators onboard, with credits including Halo and God of War. It’s unclear if the company still has interests beyond mobile games after this loss. Executive Mike Verdu recently announced big plans for the use of “generative AI” at Netflix Games, but it’s not clear how exactly that technology will be applied.
Those who want to see what Netflix’s interactive specials have to offer don’t have much longer. On December 1st, 20 of those titles will leave Netflix indefinitely, and it doesn’t sound like more are in the works.
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