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2w ago

HBO Max to Enforce Paid Password Sharing With $7.99 Add-On in September

Months of testing have allowed HBO Max to identify password sharers for mandatory $7.99 per month add-ons.

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Pedro Pascal as Joel in "The Last of Us" season two.
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Overview

  • In September 2025, HBO Max will replace its optional password-sharing reminders with fixed, aggressive prompts requiring users to register or pay for additional access.
  • Subscribers must pay a $7.99 monthly add-on for each extra member allowed to stream outside their household.
  • Several months of testing using account data, device IDs and IP addresses have enabled HBO Max to detect unauthorized users accurately.
  • Warner Bros. Discovery projects that the crackdown will drive subscriber growth and revenue gains starting in the fourth quarter of 2025 and continuing into 2026.
  • The strategy mirrors similar paid-sharing programs launched by Netflix in 2023 and Disney+ in mid-2024 as streamers target higher average revenue per user.