DC Universe Streaming Platform Future Potentially In Doubt Due To The Upcoming Launch Of HBO Max

HBO Max is just weeks away, and while there are plenty of reasons to be excited about that, it could spell doom for DC Universe. The streaming platform has never really taken off (it's still unavailable outside North America), and a report from Business Insider points to it now being in a state of limbo. 

"Everything is about HBO Max now," a former Warner Bros. Digital Labs employee who worked on DC Universe before leaving the company earlier this year. It sounds like the biggest problem is that WarnerMedia now has two competing streaming services, both of which will include DC films and TV shows; as a result, consumers are unlikely to want to pay for both. 

"Most of the people who I'd worked with were confused about what HBO Max means for DC Universe," said another former Digital Labs employee. "It seems like DC Universe is emphasizing its comics and nobody really seems to know where video falls into that."

Another insider tells the site that a large number of DC Comics isn't a "compelling enough reason" to pay for DC Universe, while having a show like Doom Patrol on both platforms further confuses things.

"A lot of its content doesn't have an exclusive feel, which niche services need to secure long-term subscribers," Richard Cooper, the research director at Ampere Analysis explains. "Lots of services have superhero content. We're not going to run out any time soon and it will be bigger budgets and more exclusivity compared to what DC Universe will be able to provide."

"The feeling in the office is that DC Universe is going to be around for at least another year or two," adds that former Digital Labs employee. "They want to keep it around but they want to keep it small."

In other words, its days could now be numbered...