(WJET/WFXP) — Max will begin its password-sharing crackdown next week, beginning with “very early, gentle messaging” directed at high-usage users.
JB Perrette, CEO and president of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery, made the announcement Tuesday during an annual tech summit hosted by Wells Fargo.
The password rollout will happen slowly over the next year, with the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max planning to introduce an option to “essentially add a member” during the first quarter of 2025. Perrette described this approach as an “art and a science” to determine who is likely sharing a password and who may just be using the account at a vacation home.
As the company gathers more data, the filter for potential password sharing will be refined until it “really begins to kick in in the back half of [20]25 and into [20]26.”
Perrette also confirmed release timelines for the new seasons of “Euphoria” and “The Last of Us” in addition to laying out a rough schedule for new shows and seasons coming to Max:
- Dec. 5, 2024: DC Animated spinoff “Creature Commandos”
- 2025: “IT: Welcome to Derry,” a prequel based on the Stephen King horror novel “IT”
- January 2025: “The Pitt,” a new 15-episode TV series following the challenges faced by healthcare workers in Pittsburgh.
- February 2025: Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” this time set in the luxury hotel chain’s majestic Thailand location.
- Mid-2025: Season 2 of the critically acclaimed video game adaptation “The Last of Us”
- Summer 2025: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” a smaller-scale “Game of Thrones” spinoff.
- Early 2026: Season 3 of “Euphoria,” delayed from its original 2025 release date.
- Mid-2026: “House of the Dragon” Season 3