Shortly after the PS5 launched, my wife and I booted up the new console for our usual Saturday night pizza and TV shows weekend. It had all the usual suspects—Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, etc.—but HBO Max was (and still is) conspicuously missing. Sony’s original announcement about media apps on the PS5 didn’t include any mention of HBO Max, and there’s still no hint as to if or when it might be coming to the console, further highlighted by a bombshell announcement from Warner Bros. that is shaking up the theatrical film industry.
Warner Bros. announced today that following Wonder Woman 1984 coming to HBO Max concurrently with its theatrical release on December 25th, it’s entire 17-film 2021 slate of movies will launch day and date on both HBO Max and in theaters, staying on the streaming service for a period of one month. The streaming service will get these films in 4K Ultra HD HDR, including massive releases like Dune, The Matrix 4, The Suicide Squad, and Mortal Kombat.
Unlike Disney+’s experiment releasing Mulan on its service as a premium film you could rent earlier this year, the Warner Bros. slate of films will be included in an HBO Max subscription. Warner Bros. cites the difficulties of the pandemic and the expected limited capacities of (and willingness of people to even attend) theaters throughout 2021. “With this unique one-year plan, we can support our partners in exhibition with a steady pipeline of world-class films, while also giving moviegoers who may not have access to theaters or aren’t quite ready to go back to the movies the chance to see our amazing 2021 films.”
However the difficulty now becomes the availability of HBO Max. While the service was available on the PS4, the PlayStation 5 doesn’t yet have HBO Max available. (Bringing the PS4 version over to the PS5 on an external hard drive is met with a message that the app can only be used on PS4.) Yes, there are probably at least five other devices in my house that can get HBO Max. Yes, I could just hook my PS4 back up to watch things (at a lower resolution). But it still doesn’t excuse the PS5 missing the massively popular streaming service, particularly when the PS4 had it and there’s reasonable expectation that the new console would support it too.
To be fair, I have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes. I’ve tried to research if and when a PS5 HBO Max app might be coming, and have seen a lot of conjecture and speculation without any concrete sources or information. One person alleges that exclusivity deals with the current apps like Netflix and Disney+ are keeping other streaming apps off the console until Q1 2021 (hence them getting buttons on the PS5 remote).
I expect HBO Max to come to PS5 at some point, but the question is when exactly that will be, and if it will be in time to catch most of the Warner Bros. films debuting on the service next year. Now that the PS5 has launched worldwide, Sony’s focus is on meeting high inventory demands, but at nearly a month since release, they also need to start communicating regarding player feedback on the UI and missing streaming apps, including (but certainly not limited to) HBO Max. I guess I can just keep waiting to actually watch His Dark Materials Season 2.
