Netflix to Remove 20 of Its Original Movies and Specials

Netflix is pulling the plug on a whopping 20 original titles. According to The Verge, as part of the many titles leaving the streamer in December, 20 of Netflix’s “Interactive Specials” will be taken off. Starting Dec. 1, only four will remain: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and You vs. Wild. This seems to mark the end of Netflix’s interactive content, which started in 2017 with Puss in Boots: Trapped in an Epic Tale.

The interactive aspect really took off with 2018’s Bandersnatch, a special Black Mirror film that centered on a young programmer who begins to question reality as he adapts a dark fantasy novel into a video game. Other interactive titles include Barbie Epic Road Trip, Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal, Choose Love, The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!, and Spirit Riding Free: Ride Along Adventure.

“The technology served its purpose but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher shared. The news comes nearly a year after Netflix’s head of gaming, Mike Verdu, told Gamefile, “We’re not building those specific experiences anymore” in regards to the interactive content. “The technology was very limiting, and the potential for what we could do in that realm was kind of capped. But we learned a ton from that. Where you’re going to see that learning come to life is actually in these interactive narrative games.”

“It will start to feel more and more like you really are playing the show,” Verdu continued. “I think that’s sort of the spiritual evolution of what you saw there. But we learned a ton. And Bandersnatch is a phenomenal experience.” Some of those games include tie-in versions of Love is Blind, Too Hot To Handle, Outer Banks, Emily in Paris, Selling Sunset, and more.

It’s unknown if the remaining four interactive titles will eventually leave Netflix as well, but fans will want to stream them all if they can before it’s too late. Because once they leave Netflix, they will likely never be available anywhere, unless the streamer miraculously brings them back in the future. For now, though, most of the interactive title son Netflix will be obsolete and it’s going to be sad to see them go come Dec. 1.