Much like other streaming platforms before it, HBO Max will be cracking down on password sharing. In an earnings report, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of streaming and gaming, Jean-Briac Perrette, recently informed investors that the platform will launch an “aggressive” messaging campaign regarding the practice starting next month.
Outside of this campaign, the company will also be delving deep into any possible loopholes that allow users to share their streaming accounts. Furthermore, Perette added that the company has spent “several months” on developing new ways of determining “who is a legitimate user and who may not be legitimate user”.
Going back to the messaging campaign, Perette added that the “message language right now has been fairly soft”, hoping that people would relinquish their password-sharing ways voluntarily. If not, then the campaign will “get more fixed”, and that would eventually escalate to the level of aggression that was promised.
The company is obviously looking to line its pockets even further, forcing people to pay for the service rather than borrowing a friend’s or family member’s accounts. In Perette’s words, the crackdown will fully be in effect in around the fourth quarter of this year, which is also the time the company will see the “real benefits” of this suppression. He also emphasised that the messaging campaign will continue all the way to 2026.
At the end of the day, HBO Max is simply following in the footsteps of other platforms like Netflix and Disney+ before it. There were no representatives from the company that mentioned the possibility of password sharing as a paid feature, similar to Netflix’s bold scheme years prior, though we would not be surprised if HBO Max pulled a similar move as well in the future.
At this time, it is unclear whether the crackdown would also apply to other regions, including Malaysia. To recap, you can get the standard plan at RM34.90 per month and the Ultimate option at RM52.90/month in Malaysia, or at RM 279.9/year and RM424.90/year respectively.
(Source: Engadget, Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. Transcript)
