By Cristian Bustos. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is betting hard on interactive storytelling intended to attract viewers who are interested in a more game-oriented platform. Cat Burglar —the latest interactive title by the streaming giant— is set to confirm this new approach, and is a solid addition to the interactive sensation Bandersnatch.
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Going Interactive
As reported by The Verge, Cat Burglar is a worthy successor to Bandersnatch and incorporates an “addictive trivia” where viewers get to make plot choices and affect the story.
Andy Weil, Netflix VP of comedy and interactive lead, says: “You can only do this on Netflix. You can’t do this on any other platform because we’re a tech company, and that’s in the DNA of Netflix all along.”
“The idea that you can interact with the content is something that we are exploring across all genres, all types of things,” he asserts.
Cat Burglar debuted Tuesday and follows the story of a cat named Rowdy and a security dog called Peanut —the show was developed by Annabel Jones and Charlie Brooker, creators of Bandersnatch— and “there are many, many permutations depending on how you play the game through,” The Verge reports.
Stronger Offer
At present, Netflix offers more than a dozen of mobile games and has been developing interactive products such as You vs. Wild or Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale. Weil says the new game confirms that the company is willing to grow these types of interactive content, and is preparing more similar projects that are bound to be streamed soon.
“This is definitely more of like a fun experiment… We are going to do kind of more direct trivia stuff coming up,” he adds.
Spokesperson Ebony Turner confirms the upcoming content as a way to build upon Netflix’s interactive offer.
“The idea is to get people interacting. Instead of just sitting back with a passive experience, maybe we’ll push more people into games. They’ll be aware that there’s more on Netflix than just TV and movies,” Weil concedes.
Netflix is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders’ families.
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