UPDATE: As of May 12, 2025, Netflix has officially removed Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (and all other interactive video content) from its platform.

Our petition now calls for the preservation and re-release of this groundbreaking interactive experience before it disappears completely from digital history.

The full Bandersnatch experience (powered by Netflix’s proprietary Branch Manager engine) is now gone.

For many, it vanished before they even realized it was leaving. And now, people are questioning why.. and what’s next?

Thanks to your voices, this petition has grown to nearly 6,000 signatures in just a few days, and the media is taking notice.

📰 Netflix fans rush to save ‘groundbreaking’ TV episode as petition gains 5,000 signatures (May 12 / MIRROR UK article)

We know this isn’t just about one show.

It’s about the loss of:

• A pioneering format in streaming
• A platform-native interactive engine
• And a moment in digital storytelling that may never be replicated again

Now that all of Netflix's interactive videos and the technology they ran on have been decommissioned, we are calling on Netflix to see that they are provided to an official cultural institution that specializes in reputable digital media preservation, to give this innovation the legacy it deserves.

We also want to see Bandersnatch revived through their gaming platform and/or released through a third-party platform like Steam.

We’re continuing to reach out to journalists, Netflix’s innovation team, and digital preservation advocates.

This update isn’t the end... it’s the escalation.
We're not just fighting deletion. We're fighting for interactive media to be treated as a serious, preservable form of digital culture.

Please keep sharing this petition, tagging Netflix and digital preservation orgs. The more visibility we gain, the better chance we have of saving Bandersnatch and the legacy of interactive storytelling.

Let’s show them what the future demands.

– Katie, Petition Starter

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🧠 THE ISSUE
On May 12, 2025, Netflix will permanently delete Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, along with all of its interactive content and the proprietary Branch Manager technology that made it possible.

This isn’t just the removal of a film.
It’s the deletion of a groundbreaking moment in storytelling and innovation, a format-defining experience that cannot be replicated once it’s gone.

While a DVD or clone version may exist in limited functionality and capacity (including one currently on GitHub), the true Bandersnatch experience (with its hidden scenes, dynamic decision trees, and platform-native interactivity) only works on Netflix’s infrastructure. And that’s about to disappear.

 
🎥 WHY BANDERSNATCH MATTERS
When Bandersnatch premiered in 2018, it wasn’t just entertainment—it was a creative and technological milestone. Built on a massive 250+ page interactive script, it featured:

🔀 150+ unique scenes
🧠 60+ decision points
📈 10+ possible endings
🌳 A nonlinear structure powered by Netflix’s proprietary Branch Manager engine

This wasn’t a gimmick. It was a pioneering fusion of storytelling, simulation, and viewer agency, and it worked. Bandersnatch redefined what streaming could be and sparked a wave of interactive media experimentation.

 
📉 WHAT WE’RE ABOUT TO LOSE
Because Bandersnatch runs on Netflix’s internal platform, its full interactive experience cannot be preserved externally.

Fan recreations miss the deep-branching logic
Copied versions reduce it to flat, linear clips
And rumored cut content (including never-before-seen paths and endings) may be lost forever

This isn’t just content.
It’s born-digital architecture: a complex system of narrative logic, interaction models, and platform-specific features that will vanish once the file is pulled.

 
📈 THE MOMENTUM SO FAR
News of the removal surfaced on May 7, 2025.
This petition was launched the evening of May 8.

In just 24 hours, we gathered over 1,200 signatures, and support continues to grow.

People from all backgrounds (creatives, technologists, preservationists, educators, and fans) understand what’s at stake. But we only have a few days left to act.

 
📊 INTERACTIVE STORYTELLING IS NOT OBSOLETE
This isn’t a niche or outdated format. It’s a fast-evolving storytelling method with strong engagement and industry momentum:

✅ 90% of consumers want more control over their streaming experiences (NewscastStudio, 2024)
✅ 68% enjoy content with branching paths (Firework, 2024)
✅ 43% prefer interactive formats over traditional video
✅ Interactive video generates 300% more engagement
✅ 88% of marketers plan to increase investment in interactive storytelling

Netflix helped pioneer this format. Deleting Bandersnatch (and the technology behind it) sends the wrong message about innovation, preservation, and digital culture.

 
📰 WHY NOW?
As journalist Jason Nelson recently reported in Decrypt, Netflix is shifting toward AI-driven personalization and TikTok-style short-form content.

While that may explain their pivot, it also highlights a troubling trend:
Important creative experiments are being discarded.

This petition isn’t just about keeping Bandersnatch online. It’s about ensuring it is properly preserved for future generations, researchers, and historians.

Special thanks to Alex DiVincenzo at Bloody Disgusting for highlighting this cause and including the petition in his article. Coverage like this is crucial for raising awareness and helping us fight to preserve interactive media history. 🙏
Read the article here

 

✊ WHAT WE’RE ASKING
We respectfully urge Netflix to:

🔐 Preserve and archive Bandersnatch in its full interactive form: including all scenes, decision logic, hidden paths, and the Branch Manager system—through a credible digital preservation partner, nonprofit archive, or academic institution.

This request goes beyond simply storing video files or source code. We are asking for the functional preservation of Bandersnatch as a playable, studyable interactive work, so that future generations can experience it as intended, not just read about it or view fragments.

Ideally, we ask Netflix to also consider:

📺 Keeping it live on the platform
💾 OR releasing it as a downloadable or standalone interactive app
🏛️ OR donating the full experience to a cultural institution, digital heritage lab, or interactive storytelling archive

This isn’t just about fan nostalgia.
It’s about safeguarding a unique moment in digital media history, a milestone in immersive storytelling that deserves to be experienced, not buried.

 

📣 WHAT I’M DOING
I’m one person. I found out about the removal on May 7 and launched this petition on May 8, with just days to respond before deletion.

Since then, I’ve been reaching out to multiple Netflix executives, including those in innovation, content strategy, and tech. I will continue doing everything in my power to advocate for preservation, but I need your help to amplify this call.

 

🧱 WHAT’S AT STAKE
This isn’t just about Bandersnatch.. it’s about Netflix permanently removing an entire category of interactive storytelling.

When they delete Bandersnatch, they’re also decommissioning the Branch Manager platform—the proprietary system that powers all of their interactive specials.

That means titles like:

• You vs. Wild
• Cat Burglar
• Minecraft: Story Mode
• Kaleidoscope
• Escape the Undertaker
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend

...and others, may quietly vanish as well.

This is a sweeping deletion of platform-native storytelling, and so far, it seems there are no plans to preserve it.

We’re not just losing access. We’re losing a chapter of innovation, one that showed what streaming media could become when it pushed boundaries.

It's about:

• Preserving experimental, born-digital narratives
• Protecting interactive content that exists nowhere else
• Ensuring future access for scholars, developers, creators, and fans
• Holding corporations accountable for cultural erasure in the algorithm age

If Bandersnatch (a globally recognized, award-winning innovation) can be deleted without official preservation, what else will quietly disappear next?

We’re entering an era where entire formats can vanish overnight.
Let’s not let this one slip into the void.

 
✍️ Please sign and share this petition to help preserve Bandersnatch before it disappears forever.