Image Credit: Netflix
If you were streaming on a PlayStation 3 in 2013, you may have noticed an incredibly bizarre feature on your screen. Over the years, Netflix has experimented with much more interactive approaches to solving choice paralysis and while AI search is currently in testing, we wanted to revisit a feature that is over 10 years old and hasn’t been around forever, but helps you decide what to watch next.
They called it Max. No, not HBO Max, just Max, presumably to help you get the most out of Netflix.
Part virtual assistant, part game-show host, Max was an effort to make deciding what to watch feel less like a job and more like a program. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look back at one of Netflix’s strangest and, sadly, short-lived experiments.
according to an articleIt was developed by Jackbox Games, a game studio that recently teamed up with the Netflix Games division to bring an exclusive collection of its Jackbox Party games to the streamer.
When was Max launched?
The Max was officially launched on 28 June 2013. At the time, it was exclusive to the PlayStation 3 app – which made sense, as the PS3 was the most popular Netflix streaming device in the world at the time, although it was one of the many devices that got discontinued with the latest Netflix UI overhaul.
The idea was to test it on the PS3 first, with the promise that if it performed well, Netflix would expand Max to other devices like the iPad. (Spoiler alert: It wasn’t entirely successful.) Todd Yellin, VP of Product Innovation at Netflix (who will be with the company until December 2022), wrote in a blog post announcing the feature, “If Max performs as promised, we’ll expand its performance and make it available on other devices in the future, possibly the next iPad.”
What did Max really do?
Max was essentially a comic recommendation engine designed to find what to watch next. If you don’t know what you want to see, Max will come up with some quirky dialogue and guide you through some mini-games to find your mood.
If you remember the outrageous trivia game series You Don’t Know Jack, Max’s vibe will seem incredibly familiar – and for good reason. Netflix actually partnered with JellyVision (creators of You Don’t Know Jack) to create the interface.
When you connect with Max, he’ll offer you a few different ways to find a show or movie:
- rating game:Max will show you some titles and ask you to rate them on a 5-star scale. Based on your rating, it will calculate a personalized suggestion.
- celebrity mood ring:Max will show you two actors (for example, Bruce Willis and Michelle Williams) and ask who you would prefer to watch. It will then suggest a title featuring the actor you selected.
- Choose “Either/Or” Style: You’ll be asked to choose between two comically distinct, polar-opposite genres – like “Talking Animals” or “Tortured Genius.”
- Max’s mysterious call: If you were feeling totally indecisive (or adventurous), you could let Max blindly choose something for you. A digital gift box will appear on the screen, and whoever is inside will immediately start moving.
If Max has given you an idea, you can ask him for a quick “30-second pitch” where he’ll playfully explain why you should see it before you start playing.
Celebrity Mood Ring on Max – Ironically, if you chose one of these right now, they would yield zero results
A video explaining the feature, presented by Pedro Freitas, then-senior manager of product innovation (for whom we found an inactive Twitter account but couldn’t find out if he still works at Netflix), dives into the feature, and boy, is it a blast to the past. Many of the features presented in the UI and even the titles are long gone. This was when Netflix let you rate things out of five instead of the thumbs-up, double-thumbs-up, and down you do now.
This was back when Disney titles were streaming, so you could watch The Avengers, Brother Bear 2, and Cars. You can also see the popular line on Facebook, when Netflix (and most apps at the time) encouraged you to link your Facebook account so you could share with your friends, and even had your avatar as your Facebook profile picture.
Why was Max discontinued?
Despite being a fun, innovative idea, the Max did not reach a wide customer base. It required a lot of active participation when most people just wanted to push a button and be out of the area.
Also, as a user Told on Reddit years laterThe feature had its flaws. If you’ve used Max multiple times, you’ll often find the same small pool of movies and shows to watch. It felt a bit harsh compared to the intuitive, data-driven recommendation algorithms that Netflix was improving behind the scenes.
By May 2015, users began noticing that Max had quietly disappeared from their PS3 apps. Netflix customer service representatives at the time confirmed that the feature was officially discontinued because it did not gain the traction that executives had hoped for.
max’s legacy
While Max is long gone, the problem it was trying to solve — endless scrolling and option paralysis — is something Netflix has continued to deal with.
Spiritual successors to Max can be seen in features like the short-lived “Surprise Me” (or Play Something) shuffle button, which Netflix introduced in 2021 and quietly discontinued in early 2023. The latest iteration to help you out is their vertical video feed, which shows you previews of popular clips from different Netflix shows or movies in the hopes that you’ll jump over.
Do you remember Max? Do you want Netflix to bring it back somehow? Let us know in the comments below.
