--- title: "Netflix Plans To Try Out “Interactive” Shows" description: "In its constant quest to get us to keep watching, streaming juggernaut Netflix is trying out a new format: choose-your-own-adventure style content." date: "2018-10-01" modified: "2018-10-01" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/report-netflix-to-roll-out-interactive-shows" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "choose your own adventure" - "netflix" - "streaming" - "the digest" - "tv" --- # Netflix Plans To Try Out “Interactive” Shows ![In its constant quest to get us to keep watching, streaming juggernaut Netflix is trying out a new format: choose-your-own-adventure style content.]() *Black Mirror \Image: Netflix\* ## CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE Streaming giant Netflix seems to be planning to allow viewers to make decisions that affect the storylines of certain shows. That’s according to *Bloomberg*, which reported [on Monday]() that the company is planning a push into interactive television that will present viewers with decisions about what should happen next during an episode, like a branching “Choose Your Own Adventure” novel. The project would be a bold experiment in storytelling for Netflix. The company has reoriented the TV industry around online streaming in ways that reportedly [terrify traditional networks](). It's mostly stuck with the classic linear formats of TV and movies — until now. ## HELP PAGE Netflix hasn't formally announced its interactive shows, and the *Bloomberg* report is based on an anonymous source (though allowing someone to speak to the press on background might just be a way to drum up buzz for the new series). But we turned up a little something that makes us think the new series are totally happening — [a page]() on Netflix’ help site that appears to describe the upcoming interactive content. It’ll work on most platforms, it says, but not Chromecast or Apple TV. *Bloomberg* pointed out that Netflix has already [test-driven the technology]() on the kids’ show “Puss in Book.” That show presents viewers with simple choices, like who the title character Puss should fight, but *Bloomberg'*s sources said in adult programming (likely to drop before the end of the year), the branches will be more complex. ## HOOK 'EM One of the first adult titles that will let viewers make decisions will be an episode of the dystopian technology show “Black Mirror,” according to *Bloomberg*’s sources. That feels pretty on the nose. Netflix has perfected the art of roping viewers — [even children]() — into binge-watching sessions. Interactive shows might be an exciting new method of storytelling, but there's no doubt the interactive shows are just another way to keep us all watching. **READ MORE**: [Netflix Is Planning a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure ‘Black Mirror’]() \[*Bloomberg*\] ***More on Netflix: [Netflix CEO Says Entertainment’s Future is a Matrix-Like Hallucinogen]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()