What if you could choose how your favorite shows would end?
According to a report in Bloomberg, Netflix is developing a handful of interactive episodes that will let viewers choose the storyline in a TV show or movie. And, the streaming media service will allegedly release a choose-your-own adventure episode in the fifth season of Charlie Brooker’s dystopian series, Black Mirror. Netflix hasn’t released a date for season five, but it is widely speculated that, like previous seasons, it will be a fourth-quarter release.
Related: How Netflix designs with flexibility
The concept of an interactive Black Mirror episode is especially compelling, given the show’s focus on technology and the future. Fans of the show can easily imagine how you would be involved in the main narrative itself, perhaps making decisions for main characters.
Netflix’s push into interactive media
Netflix has been working on interactive shows for adults for some time, following its foray into choose-your-own-adventure stories for children, like the Shrek spin-off Puss in Book and an episode of the stop-motion animated series, Buddy Thunderstruck.
Other projects, like HBO’s interactive storytelling app, Mosaic, have demonstrated audience interest in choosing a narrative and being closer to the story.
“The time is right for interactive TV to become a mainstream experience,” said Jim Spare, COO of Eko, a company that produces interactive shows, in an article on Bloomberg.
Keep your eyes out for season five of Black Mirror and get ready to use that imagination.
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Emily has written for some of the top tech companies, covering everything from creative copywriting to UX design. When she's not writing, she's traveling the world (next stop: Japan!), brewing kombucha, and biking through the Pacific Northwest.
