Have you ever wished you could control the kids from Stranger Things or force Love's Gus and Mickey to sit down and talk about their feelings? Or would you like to redo the plot structure of The OA so that it makes a lick of sense? Do you want to add some free will to your Netflix and chill? All of these things could theoretically be possible one day, as Netflix is reportedly testing out some choose-your-own adventure technology.
The Daily Mail reports that Netflix is apparently toying with a set-up that would give viewers some control over the narratives onscreen.
An unnamed source that supposedly works for the company said, "We're doing work on branch narratives so you are actually making choices as you watch. All the content will be there, and then people will have to get through it in different ways.... We'll see how it plays out. It's an experiment. We'll see if it gets much success. For creators, it's new territory."
Apparently Netflix will test out the technology with a children's show involving an established character later this year.
It's also worth noting that they toyed with this idea on Season 4 of Arrested Development. In its development stages, each episode of the show focused on individual characters in the same timeline. The idea was to allow users to watch the episodes in any order, but ultimately the show was edited to be chronological before it came out.
UPDATE (03/03, 2:45p.m.): Netflix has released a statement somewhat confirming that they've been toying with the technology:
Netflix is constantly exploring ways to create a better experience for its members. We first introduced interactive elements to our Kids series, Kong, in April 2016. We will continue to experiment in this format to learn more about what our members enjoy.
The Daily Mail reports that Netflix is apparently toying with a set-up that would give viewers some control over the narratives onscreen.
An unnamed source that supposedly works for the company said, "We're doing work on branch narratives so you are actually making choices as you watch. All the content will be there, and then people will have to get through it in different ways.... We'll see how it plays out. It's an experiment. We'll see if it gets much success. For creators, it's new territory."
Apparently Netflix will test out the technology with a children's show involving an established character later this year.
It's also worth noting that they toyed with this idea on Season 4 of Arrested Development. In its development stages, each episode of the show focused on individual characters in the same timeline. The idea was to allow users to watch the episodes in any order, but ultimately the show was edited to be chronological before it came out.
UPDATE (03/03, 2:45p.m.): Netflix has released a statement somewhat confirming that they've been toying with the technology:
Netflix is constantly exploring ways to create a better experience for its members. We first introduced interactive elements to our Kids series, Kong, in April 2016. We will continue to experiment in this format to learn more about what our members enjoy.
