Last month, Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels confirmed that Max would soon start cracking down on password sharing. The news, while disappointing, was far from shocking, seeing as rival platforms like Netflix and Disney+ rolled out similar policies before.
Back in November, Wiedenfels said Max would begin shutting down password sharing, first with “very soft messaging” over “the next few months.” The company would then start to clamp down harder into 2025 and through 2026. It seems, however, a “few months” means “one month,” as Max’s new strategy is about to roll out.
Max’s anti-password sharing policy starts next week
As reported by The Wrap, Max’s “soft messaging” on password sharing will start next week. Well, more precisely, it’s now “early, gentle messaging.” That’s according to Warner Bros. Discovery global streaming chief JB Perrette.
Perrette confirmed the news during a Tuesday media conference, saying that Warner Bros. Discovery plans to start “literally in about a week.” The executive said Max won’t roll out the messaging to all users at once. Instead, the company is planning to target users it believes are “in the higher tier of usage.” Max won’t be guessing who that is, either: Perrette said the company will be collecting data on its users to figure out which ones are sharing their passwords, versus the ones using their accounts while traveling. I know, personally, nothing makes me feel like a valued customer more than being spied on, especially when the end result is charging me more money for the same service.
What this all means for you is this: If Max detects your account is being used a lot—especially outside your “household”—you’re more likely to experience this “gentle messaging” as opposed to someone who watches their Max account sparingly at home.
Then, starting in Q1, the service will add the option to add another user to your plan. If Perrette is to be believed, Max won’t start cracking down en masse until the “back half of 2024 and into 2026,” so even when the option to add a user appears, you might not be compelled to shell out the extra cash yet. We also don’t know how much each extra member will cost the account holder to add.
How to (likely) get around Max’s password sharing crackdown
Again, this sounds pretty slow-going. Based on the info we have now, Max isn’t planning on locking other users out of your account if they try logging in. However, it’s good to be prepared.
While Max has yet to detail how exactly it plans to enforce its rules, we can look towards the strategy Netflix employs for a model: Netflix considers the TV you log into your account with as your “household.” Any device connecting to your account within the household (i.e. your home wifi) will work fine. It’s when you try to access the account on a device outside of your household where things get tricky.
While Netflix is a stickler for TVs, it’s lenient for mobile devices, like phones, tablets, and computers. As long as you access Netflix on the household’s wifi with your device, it should work outside the household for the next 30 days. I imagine Max will offer a similar setup, but it’s tough to say at this time.
