Following the news that a Warner Bros. Discovery sale is indeed a very real possibility, the company has announced that it's raising subscription prices for all HBO Max tiers.
The streaming service is home to new DC Studios TV shows, like Creature Commandos and Peacemaker Season 2 (which wrapped up earlier this month). Lanterns is coming to the streamer next year, while it's also the final destination for DCU movies, following their respective theatrical, Digital, and Blu-ray releases.
Here's how much each HBO Max plan will increase, effective immediately:
HBO Max Basic With Ads
Monthly: +$1/month increase, now $10.99
Annually: +$10/year increase, now $109.99
HBO Max Standard
Monthly: +$1.50/month increase, now $18.49
Annual: +$15/year increase, now $184.99
HBO Max Premium
Monthly: +$2/month increase, $22.99
Annual: +$20/year increase, now $229.99
So, depending on which tier you pay for, that's a rise of $1 at minimum and $2 at most, per month. That's not a huge sum of money, but at a time when the cost of living is higher than ever and there are countless streaming platforms to subscribe to, this will sting for many people.
Fortunately, the price change is only immediate for new subscriptions. Existing monthly subscribers will be notified 30 days in advance of their plan renewing, with price increases starting from either their next billing date on or after November 20, 2025.
HBO Max was rebranded to Max and became HBO Max again in June. Disney+ and Hulu price increases also go into effect today, with Peacock, Apple TV (which recently dropped the "+" from TV), and Netflix increasing their monthly/yearly subscriptions earlier this year.
Is HBO Max worth the price? It's home to many HBO original series, including Game of Thrones, The Penguin, and Rick and Morty, as well as movies like Superman, A Minecraft Movie, and Sinners. Upcoming releases include IT: Welcome to Derry, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and Lanterns.
Recently, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn confirmed that there are currently no plans for Peacemaker Season 3. "No, this is about the wider DCU and other stories in which this [the ending of Season 2] will play out right now," he said. "So that doesn't mean that there won't be. I don't want to… never say never. But right now, no. This is about the future of the DCU."
"He's really important to me," Gunn said of the character. "Peacemaker is an important character. And I said from the beginning when we took on this job, it's about really propping up and maintaining and repositioning the big diamond properties that DC has, the Batmans and Wonder Womans and Supermans, and then creating diamond properties out of the smaller characters like Peacemaker."
Are you an HBO Max subscriber? How do you feel about this latest price hike?