Netflix is officially pulling the plug on its final two interactive specials. Both Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend left the platform globally on May 12.
As reported by What’s On Netflix, this marks the end of an era for Netflix’s ambitious experiments with interactive storytelling. While Netflix had quietly been phasing out these choose-your-own-adventure-style experiences since 2023, these two holdouts stuck around until now.
Bandersnatch, released in 2018, was easily Netflix’s boldest swing in the interactive space. The Black Mirror special followed a 1980s video game developer whose reality unravels in a mind-bending maze of choices and endings. Its innovative format racked up awards and rewired viewers’ expectations of what streaming could be. Meanwhile, Kimmy vs. the Reverend, a 2020 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt special, put fans in charge of Kimmy’s quest to stop the villainous Reverend once and for all.
Why It’s Happening Now
Netflix’s move away from interactive specials comes as the streamer leans harder into live programming and gaming. The company has already made waves by securing major live sports and entertainment deals, including a partnership this past January with WWE to stream Monday Night Raw. Netflix is also doubling down on its gaming ambitions, with a growing library of mobile and cloud-based games integrated directly into its platform. These shifts signal a broader strategy to diversify beyond on-demand TV and movies and compete more aggressively with both traditional broadcasters and tech-driven gaming services.
With a newly redesigned interface that de-emphasizes interactive specials altogether. While the concept was starting to phase out in 2023, Netflix pulled most of its interactive originals in late 2024 and early 2025, with these last two titles are the final dominoes to fall.
It’s unclear if Netflix will try to rework these specials into linear formats, as it did with some of its Bear Grylls interactive shows. However, as What’s On Netflix pointed out, Bandersnatch’s complex branching narrative would be tough to port over without losing what made it so groundbreaking.