Max is joining the ranks of streaming platforms that are blocking excessive password sharing.
As reported by The Wrap, JB Perrette, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO and president of global streaming and games, announced the change on 4 March 2024. Those promises are now coming into play in April 2025.
Speaking at Morgan Stanley’s 2024 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco, Perrette said that limiting password sharing will be a “meaningful opportunity” for the company.
It’s worth mentioning that Warner Bros. Discovery has been struggling financially for several years but managed to limit its losses to $55 million in the last quarter of 2023 (from a $217 million loss in 2022). Moreover, the company gained 1.8 million direct-to-consumer subscribers.
Restricting password sharing is another step in reducing the company’s losses. Warner Bros. Discovery is thus following in the footsteps of Netflix, which stopped password sharing at the end of 2023, and Hulu, where restrictions were introduced in 2024.
For more on this topic, check out our round-up on the Disney+ password sharing ban.
When will Max introduce password-sharing rules?
The new rules are beginning to roll out now in the US, in spring 2025.
The changes will probably be introduced gradually in other countries where Max or HBO Max operates. This includes Latin America and parts of Europe.
Warner Bros.
What do the new password-sharing measures on Max involve?
While we don’t have official details from Warner, if it’s anything like Netflix, it will use a combination of monitoring IP addresses and address activity to spot any accounts that are repeatedly being used outside of one household. It could also have an option for when users are travelling, such as a one-time passcode.
What is the Extra Member option?
An Extra Member is a feature created for a person who doesn’t live in the same household as a Max account holder. For an additional $7.99 per month, you can add one friend or a family member to your account who is at least 18 years old and resides in the United States.
However, the option is available only if you subscribe to one of the three plans offered by Max:
- Basic with Ads – $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year
- Standard – $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year
- Premium – $20.99 per month or $209.99 per year.
The Extra Member feature isn’t available if you purchase a Max, Disney+ and Hulu bundle or connect with Max through a third-party service, such as a TV and internet provider, app store or phone carrier.
Once an add-on is purchased, an Extra Member will receive their own profile with a password and access to all of Max’s features. If a person already has an account on Max, their profile, watch history, recommendations, and settings will be transferred to the new Extra Member account.
Note that an Extra Member will lose access to the service if the primary user deletes their account.
JB Perrette, CEO of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery, stated (via Variety):
Extra Member Add-On and Profile Transfer are two key Max advancements, designed to help viewers with a new way to enjoy our best-in-class content at an exceptional value, and offer subscribers greater flexibility in managing their accounts.
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