Bandersnatch – the interactive special from the Black Mirror team with a video game theme – is leaving Netflix.
Bandersnatch is about a young programmer who starts to lose his grip on reality as he sets to work adapting a dark fantasy novel into a video game. Set in the 1980s, Bandersnatch is described as a “mind-bending tale”, which features multiple endings depending on the viewer’s decisions.
It is a pretty interesting form of media which can get quite meta, and one that I restarted just now to have on in the background as I write this article.
Anyway, if you too want to relive the Emmy-winning Bandersnatch, you best do it sooner rather than later, because – as reported by What’s On Netflix – removal notices have appeared on both Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend. These last remaining interactive specials are set to leave Netflix on 12th May.
In November of last year, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Eurogamer that “almost all” of its interactive titles would be leaving the service that December. “Only four will remain: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls, and You vs. Wild,” Netflix told us at the time.
According to What’s On Netflix, the company is going to be rolling out a UI redesign across various devices in the near future. Reportedly this redesign, which is still in the testing phase, is the reason Netflix has been phasing out its interactive specials.
At the time of writing, it is unclear whether or not Bandersnatch will return to the service in some sort of non-interactive form, like the previously removed Bear Grylls specials which were re-released on Netflix with a linear format.
Eurogamer has reached out to Netflix for further comment on Bandersnatch’s upcoming removal from the service.
The seventh season of Black Mirror recently made its debut. Along with a nod to Balatro, the latest season also has its own crossover moment in the form of Thronglets, a companion mobile game tied to the episode Plaything.
“Thronglets, to me, feels like the gaming future Netflix wants,” our Bertie wrote after having a go with Thronglets. “It’s a fine example of how an additive brand-related gaming experience can be done.”