HBO Max's password-sharing crackdown is about to get worse

Like any other streamer, Warner Bros. Discovery is interested in increasing HBO Max’s subscriber count. In its quest to accomplish this, it took a page from Netflix in August and started cracking down on password sharing in the US. A recent earnings call suggests that not only is the crackdown not done, but the company is also ready to ramp it up.

As reported by The Wrap, WBD recently held its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. During that call, the CEO and President of streaming JB Perrette revealed that the company will be cracking down on password sharing around the world. This news comes as WBD announced plans earlier this month to launch HBO Max in the UK and Ireland on March 26.

Additionally, it also plans to start expanding its password-sharing enforcement in 2026. “We are in the second inning of our password sharing enforcement,” Perrette explained to people on the call. “It is just beginning to get scale.”

As WBD works on getting users to stop sharing their passwords with others, it has been advertising an alternative. Subscribers can add an out-of-household account for $7.99 a month.

It appears that HBO Max will also follow Netflix’s lead on reporting subscriber numbers. Netflix stopped reporting subscriber numbers in the first quarter of 2025, now WBD plans to do the same. Despite the change, the company says it expects to reach 150 million subscribers by the end of this year.