Discovery+ and HBO Max are completing their merger to become a new unified service. The new product will be known as Max and basically serves as a reboot for HBO Max that will try its best against other consolidated streaming platforms. As you may expect, the service now includes all content from HBO Max and Discovery+. It will hit the United States on May 23 and will reach the other regions in a progressive manner. This Fall, it should hit Latin America, while Europe, Asia, and other regions will need to wait until 2024.
We have to say that this is a slow rollout. The service merger was announced back in August 2022, and will finally become a reality on May 23. Apart from the US and Latin America, other regions will have to wait until 2024. That will be a long waiting for those interested in the new service. Anyway, we expect HBO Max as it is to remain available in other regions.
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More details about Max
In the United States, the Max Ad tier will cost $9,99 per month or $99 a year. It offers two 1080p screens with no offline downloads. The cheapest plans follow the new tendency of bringing ads to support this price. Those who want a less intrusive approach will need to spend $15,99 a month or $149,99 in one year. The basic no-ad Max will also offer two 1080p screens with 30 offline downloads. The best plan will set you back by $19,99 per month or $199 a year. It’s called Max Ultimate and supports up to four 4K streams with Dolby Atmos support and 100 offline downloads.
Those signed into HBO Max will see their profiles, billing info, and watch history migrated automatically to Max. When it comes to Discovery+ it can still be acquired as a standalone service. It will cost $4,99 per month with ads, and $6,99 for the ad-free version.
We will see if this new format will be enough to make the service more profitable. Worth noting that it has a huge potential thanks to the quality of its shows like House of Dragon and The Last of Us. The upcoming DC movies are also expected to hit the service after a few weeks in the theaters. Let’s see if Max will become a relevant competitor for the likes of Netflix in the US.
