WarnerMedia has announced HBO Max Europe prices for the six countries where the service is scheduled to debut on October 26. The company also said that HBO Max will be coming to more markets across Europe in 2022 than its previous release schedule would have us believe.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
- HBO Max is launching in six countries in Europe on October 26
- It’s stepping up the competition on prices with Netflix and Disney ahead of launch
- HBO Max has also added seven more countries to its 2022 launch slate
How much does HBO Max cost in Europe?
According to the official announcement on WarnerMedia Press Room, HBO Max is scheduled to launch in 27 markets total in Europe during 2021 and 2022. First, the service will make its debut in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain and Andorra on October 26.
WarnerMedia also unveiled HBO Max Europe’s prices for those markets:
- Sweden (Kr)
- Existing HBO monthly subscription: 109Kr
- New HBO Max monthly subscription: 89Kr
- New HBO Max annual subscription: 699 Kr
- Norway (Kr)
- Existing HBO monthly subscription: 109Kr
- New HBO Max monthly subscription: 89Kr
- New HBO Max annual subscription: 699 Kr
- Denmark (Kr)
- Existing HBO monthly subscription: 99Kr
- New HBO Max monthly subscription: 79Kr
- New HBO Max annual subscription: 599 Kr
- Finland (€)
- Existing HBO monthly subscription: 10,95€
- New HBO Max monthly subscription: 8,99€
- New HBO Max annual subscription: 69,99€
- Spain (€)
- Existing HBO monthly subscription: 8,99€
- New HBO Max monthly subscription: 8,99€
- New HBO Max annual subscription: 69,99€
So how competitive are these prices relative to the competition?
European price analysis: HBO Max vs. Netflix vs. Disney+
To help HBO Max gain traction, WarnerMedia has lowered prices by about twenty percent in the Nordic region. In Sweden, the monthly subscriptions price will drop to 89Kr, which works out to about $10.20, down from the current 109Kr for HBO Nordic.
Basically, customers will be getting 12-months access for the price of eight. In Spain and Finland, for example, getting an annual subscription instead of a monthly one will save folks more than 30 percent, bringing the monthly cost down to approximately €5,99.
Those are pretty competitive price points compared to chief rivals, Netflix and Disney+, both of which start at 89Kr. But HBO Max is a better deal in terms of annual subscriptions: a discounted annual HBO Max plan will cost 699Kr versus less than the 890Kr charged by Disney+. Read: How to adjust video quality in Apple’s TV app
HBO Max will later unveil special introductory offers for new European customers.
A single subscription plan for Europe
WarnerMedia has also said that it will offer HBO Max subscribers in Europe just one subscription plan. This is in stark contrast to HBO’s approach in the US and Latin America where the service offers multiple subscription plans, with the flagship one costing $15/month.
“It’s the full flavor, Christina Sulebakk, HBO Max’s EMEA General Manager, told Reuters. “We are not introducing a basic tier and we are not introducing an advertising-funded model either.”
We’re in the early days of HBO Max Europe. Once the video service gains traction across Europe, an eventual price hike could become a real possibility.
HBO Max is coming to these 21 European countries in 2022
This first wave will be followed by 21 more countries over 2022, up from WarnerMedia’s previous plan to launch in 14 countries over the next year. HBO Max Europe will launch in these countries in 2022 (the seven markets omitted from the initial plan are bolded):
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Estonia (NEW)
- Greece (NEW)
- Hungary
- Iceland (NEW)
- Latvia (NEW)
- Lithuania (NEW)
- Moldova
- Netherlands (NEW)
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Turkey (NEW)
WarnerMedia will announce HBO Max Europe’s pricing for those markets at a later stage.
Subscribers in the Nordic can stream major upcoming Warner Bros flicks such as “The Matrix Resurrections” 45 days after theatrical release, and from next year in Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Greece, Iceland and Central and Eastern Europe.
Aside from major shows like “Game of Thrones”, “The Sopranos”, “Succession” and “Sex and the City”, HBO Max will offer locally-produced ones like Denmark’s “Kamikaze”, Spain’s “Todo lo Otro”, Romania’s “Ruxx”, Hungary’s “The Informant” and Poland’s “Still Here”.
HBO Max debuted in the United States on May 27, 2020.
When will HBO Max launch in UK and Germany?
HBO Max’s launches in the United Kingdom and Germany are uncertain for the time being due to WarnerMedia’s existing distribution deals with Sky Atlantic and Now TV preventing the company from launching the streaming service in those countries. Warner Media’s Sulebakk has explained to Variety that any distribution deals currently in place must expire before HBO Max could officially arrive in the United Kingdom and Germany.