Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Netflix’s first-of-a-kind interactive episode, is being taken off the streamer. The streaming platform will remove “Bandersnatch,” which was released in December 2018, along with the interactive special “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend” on May 12, 2025.

Netflix is pulling Black Mirror: Bandersnatch from its platform

These were the last two interactive titles available on Netflix, seemingly signaling the conclusion of the platform’s efforts to develop the format, even as it expands its gaming offerings. The removal of these original interactive titles coincides with Netflix’s increased focus on gaming.

For instance, its newly redesigned TV homepage now features playable games on connected TVs, including “Too Hot to Handle 3” and “Oxenfree” (described as an “interactive story”), which can be controlled via mobile phones. Last fall, a Netflix spokesperson told The Verge that the interactive TV technology behind “Bandersnatch” and similar titles “served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas.”

“Bandersnatch,” starring Fionn Whitehead and Will Poulter, is a choose-your-own-adventure-style film. Netflix states it has a 90-minute runtime, but the title actually includes over 312 minutes of content (just over five hours), featuring multiple branching narratives. The story is set in 1984, where a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a complex fantasy novel called “Bandersnatch”—written by a mad genius who allegedly cut off his wife’s head—into an adventure video game. Netflix describes it as “a mind-bending tale with multiple endings.”

A few months after “Bandersnatch” debuted, Netflix was enthusiastic about the technology, with then-VP of product Todd Yellin stating the company planned to “double down” on interactive programming. (Yellin left Netflix in 2022.) Season 7 of “Black Mirror,” created by Charlie Brooker, was released on April 10. The new season includes an episode titled “Plaything” — which features Will Poulter’s character Colin Ritman, the genius game designer from “Bandersnatch,” returning.

The episode is set a decade after the events of “Bandersnatch,” centered on a new project called “Thronglets,” where tiny creatures must be fed, watered, and bathed to survive. A mobile game titled “Thronglets” was released alongside the season premiere. The game’s description states, “Set in the same universe as ‘Black Mirror’s’ ‘Bandersnatch,’ this long-lost Tuckersoft game hasn’t seen the light of day since its cancellation in 1994… until now. It’s a Tamagotchi-gone-wrong that turns into a personality test for humankind.”