Password-sharing crackdowns – they're the three words that users of the best streaming services dread, as such crackdowns mean they can’t as cheaply or easily share their account with friends or family. Disney and Netflix have already launched their password restrictions – much to everyone’s annoyance – and now Max is preparing to clamp down too.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) confirmed its password crackdown intentions back in March this year, but at the time WBD's streaming head J.B. Perrette only vaguely said it was going to start the process “later this year.” Now Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of WBD, has said the process will begin with “very soft messaging” this year, which he described as “asking members who have not signed up, or multi-household members to pay a little bit more.”
This softball start – which was discussed on the company’s recent Q3 earnings call (via The Verge) – follows in the footsteps of the approach Netflix and Disney originally took. They began by nudging people to sign up for their own accounts in a few regions at first, before rolling out tighter restrictions everywhere as time passed.
While there’s no confirmation as to what the final stages of Max’s password crackdown will look like, we expect Max will continue to follow Disney and Netflix until users are left with three options – leave the streamer, pay for their own account, or pay to be an additional user on another account.
Price rises coming too
Account-sharing restrictions like these are the carrot-and-stick approach without the carrot – and Max might be serving up extra stick, as despite Wiedenfels describing this crackdown as “a form of price rises” he later added that there’s still “a fair amount of room to continue to push a price we’ve been judicious about.”
So not only might you soon have to pay for your own Max account, you’ll have to pay extra for the privilege too.
As always, we’re left asking when or if the camel’s back will break. When Netflix announced password-sharing plans we thought it might be the end of the streamer, but it’s now doing better than ever financially speaking – so it's no surprise that Disney and now Max would follow suit after threats of mass cancellations rang hollow.
It feels like there will still come a point where users say enough is enough, but until then expect password-sharing crackdowns and price rises to continue. And if you are thinking of saying goodbye to Max, you'll want to check out our list of the best Max shows to watch before you unsubscribe.
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