Over the past two years, Netflix has released at least one interactive title roughly every three months. While an interesting experiment in interactive entertainment, this strategy could be used to inform the streamer’s decisions as they continue to expand their reach into mobile games based on the most popular original series and characters in their catalogue.
The most recent interactive title “Cat Burglar,” which debuted on Feb. 22, was created by the Charlie Brooker, the writer and producer of the “Black Mirror,” which has dabbled in interactive content before.
“Cat Burglar” is an animated, 15-minute interactive short in which viewers answer questions to help the protagonist Rowdy Cat outsmart a guard, Peanut the Security Pup, to rob a museum. Viewers can replay the short several times in order to advance to previously unseen sequences of Rowdy Cat attempting to trick Peanut.
Cat Burglar
In this edgy, over-the-top, interactive trivia toon, answer correctly to help Rowdy the Cat evade Peanut the Security Pup to steal some prized paintings.
However, after the 2018 release of the “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch” choose-your-own-adventure film, Netflix subscribers may be a little fuzzy on the remainder of the interactive titles that have been dropped on the service since then.
To be fair, many of the recent interactive titles didn’t generate nearly as much traction as the streamer’s more traditional original series, especially the interactive titles released in 2021.
For instance, none of Netflix’s interactive titles released prior to “Cat Burglar” made it to the top-10 lists published on top10.Netflix.com. Moreover, of the seven interactive titles that were released between Feb. 24, 2020 and June 28, 2021, only two made it into Netflix’s daily U.S. top-10 rankings for film or TV series for more than three days following the premiere, according to FlixPatrol data.
Interactive Titles
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Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale
June 16, 2017After tumbling into a magic storybook, Puss in Boots must fight, dance and romance his way through wild adventures as he searches for an escape.
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Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile
July 14, 2017Champion truck-racing dog Buddy and his best friend, ferret mechanic Darnell, paw through the “maybe pile” and test out a bunch of crazy stunts.
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Minecraft: Story Mode
November 27, 2018Take control of an adventure set in the Minecraft universe. The future of the world is at stake, and your decisions shape the story — so choose wisely!
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Black Mirror: Bandersnatch
December 28, 2018In 1984, a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a dark fantasy novel into a video game. A mind-bending tale with multiple endings.
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Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend
May 12, 2020Kimmy’s a famous author and she’s about to marry a prince! But first she has to foil the Reverend’s evil plot. It’s your move: What should Kimmy do next?
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Captain Underpants: Epic Choice-o-rama
February 11, 2020In this interactive special, Harold and George need your decision-making skills to stop Krupp from blowing their beloved treehouse to smithereens.
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Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal
March 10, 2020You drive the action in this interactive adventure, helping Carmen save Ivy and Zack when V.I.L.E. captures them during a heist in Shanghai.
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The Boss Baby: Get That Baby!
September 1, 2020Think you’ve got what it takes to be the boss? This interactive special puts your skills to the test and matches you up with one of 16 jobs at Baby Corp.
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Spirit Riding Free: Ride Along Adventure
December 8, 2020Join Lucky and her friends on an interactive mission to save Maricela’s beloved mare from greedy horse thieves who’ve taken her captive with a wild herd.
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Animals on the Loose: A You vs. Wild Interactive Movie
February 16, 2021When there’s a power outage at a safari reserve, Bear Grylls is called and he needs your help. The situation is dire: an escaped lion is headed for a nearby village; a baboon has broken free and is going towards the sea cliffs, and the power must be restored before more animals escape.
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The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You
April 6, 2021Help Jack and his monster-battling friends make choices to stay alive — and have some fun — in this interactive “Last Kids on Earth” adventure!
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Headspace: Unwind Your Mind
June 15, 2021Do you want to relax, meditate or sleep deeply? Personalize the experience according to your mood or mindset with this Headspace interactive special.
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You vs. Wild: Out Cold
September 14, 2021After a plane crash leaves Bear with amnesia, he must make choices to save the missing pilot and survive in this high-stakes interactive adventure.
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Johnny Test's Ultimate Meatloaf Quest
November 16, 2021Join Johnny and Dukey on an epic interactive quest to find the perfect meatloaf - and save themselves from eating Dad’s gross “garbage loaf” for dinner.
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Escape the Undertaker
October 5, 2021The Undertaker has set a trap for the decorated tag team The New Day at his mansion. What they don’t know: The Undertaker’s mansion is an extreme Haunted House, packed to the brim with supernatural challenges. It’s up to viewers to decide the fate of these poor souls trying to survive the wrath of The Undertaker.
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Cat Burglar
February 22, 2022In this edgy, over-the-top, interactive trivia toon, answer correctly to help Rowdy the Cat evade Peanut the Security Pup to steal some prized paintings.
The Potential Reason for Netflix’s Interactive Titles: Mobile Games
Although another “Bandersnatch”-sized hit has yet to come, it still makes sense for the company to occasionally drop interactive titles.
Netflix can gather data from interactive title choices to inform its content strategy. If the platform were to offer an interactive title based on a popular series like “Squid Game,” a lot can be learned from the data generated from the release.
For example, if viewers have the choice of going through the story as any of the franchise’s main characters and the majority of viewers chose Sae-byeok, the last surviving female contestant, Netflix could then justify creating a spinoff series focused on the character.
In addition to content strategy, interactive titles can directly inform another initiative that the company is looking towards for future growth: Mobile gaming.
While it is not what most consumers think of when they talk about Netflix, the streamer currently has 14 mobile games available on the market. However, the majority of them are not tied to Netflix’s original IP, which is the service’s main driver of growth. While it’s still in the early days of the push towards gaming, theoretically, Netflix could create an interactive short based on a franchise, and then depending on the success of the short, they could use the lessons learned by the release to decide if creating a full-scale mobile game is worth the investment.
The majority of properties in Netflix’s gaming library are simple, casual plays. Titles like “Knittens,” “Shooting Hoops,” “Dominoes Café,” and “Wonderputt Forever” are all mobile games that someone could play while waiting in line or when they are bored during their commute.
However, Netflix’s recent release of “Hextech Mayhem,” a game featuring characters from the “League of Legends” franchise, is one hint that the company could be developing more substantial, IP-focused gaming titles in the future.
Nailing video games could become more urgent for Netflix as they are seeing their subscriber acquisition slow, especially in the United States.
Netflix
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