Warner Bros. Discovery is hoping to scour up additional revenue from Max subscribers who have been piggybacking off of someone else’s account.
On Tuesday, Max launched the Extra Member Add-On feature in the U.S., priced at $7.99/month. That lets a primary account owner to share their Max account by inviting a friend or family member outside of their household to create a separate, standalone account with an adult profile under the same subscription. Max’s launch of the Extra Member feature comes after WBD execs said they planned to notify users of restrictions on sharing streaming accounts outside their household.
Netflix in 2023 launched its own successful move to curb illicit password-sharing, which execs have credited with helping to boost revenue through account-sharing options. Similarly, Disney+ introduced an “Extra Member” option a last fall.
Max Extra Members will have their own login credentials separate from the primary account. Extra members can stream from one profile on one device at a time and otherwise have access all other benefits included in the primary account owner’s plan.
The feature costs $7.99/month, regardless of which tier an eligible user is subscribed to. Extra Member Add-On is currently available for users who subscribe directly to Max (excluding bundle subscribers) and is limited to one add-on per account.
When a Max account owner invites an Extra Member to create an account, they can choose to transfer a single adult profile, bringing over the watch history, recommendations and settings associated with that profile to their new Max account.
“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,” said JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games at Warner Bros Discovery. “These updates provide a simple way for subscribers to add-on a new member to their account, or for existing subscribers who have users outside of their household to smoothly, and in an uninterrupted fashion, transition their profile so that extra member can continue to access Max.”
Max’s lineup includes content from HBO, Warner Bros., A24, Adult Swim and the DC Universe, plus original and licensed programming. That includes the latest seasons of the HBO’s “The Last of Us,” Max original “Hacks,” and the upcoming debuts of original series like “Duster” from J.J. Abrams (May 15), season two of “Conan O’Brien Must Go” (May 8) and “Peacemaker” (August). Max is also the streaming home of other HBO originals like “The White Lotus,” “The Penguin” and “House of the Dragon,” and Warner Bros. Pictures’ films like “Barbie,” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” both “Dune” films, and series like “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory.”
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