Ahead of season 2 of House of the Dragon, Warner Bros. announced that its ad-free version of Max will cost more for new subscribers. The monthly cost will go up by $1, from $15.99 to $16.99, and the annual plan will increase by $20, from $149.99 to $169.99. This change is now live, but the company says existing subscribers will be notified 30 days in advance of their plan renewal.
According to Warner Bros., the price increases will start with customers’ next billing cycle on or after July 4. Yearly subscribers, on the other hand, will not see a price difference until renewal.
In the announcement, Warner Bros. says: “Max is the one to watch for iconic series, hit movies, fresh originals, family favorites, breaking news, and live sports, and this increase allows us to continue to invest in delivering more culture-defining programming and improving our customer experience for all users.”
The company even touts that House of the Dragon season 2, The Penguin, My Brilliant Friend, and The Sex Live of College Girls, besides NBA, NHL, and MLB games, are part of the (good) reason Max subscribers will see a price increase.
For those with an ad-based plan, the price won’t change, and customers will continue paying $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
This price increase has been rumored for over a month now. Unfortunately, just like Spotify, which recently raised its subscription, Max has a new price increase less than a year after the streaming made the ad-free tier cost $15.99.
As streaming services compete with each other and productions are costlier than ever, it seems the good old days of cheap streaming services full of options are over, and we have to subscribe to more and more options to get less content.
BGR will keep you in the loop for the latest news on price increases in the most popular streaming services.