If you’ve been generously letting your old roommate’s cousin streamThe Last of Uson your HBO Max login, catch up onThe Pitt, or heading back to Westeros withHouse of the Dragon, consider this your final warning: the era of shared accounts is coming to a close. During Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q2earnings call, JB Perrette, the company’s head of streaming and gaming, announced that password sharing crackdowns are on the horizon — and they won’t be subtle for long. The plan? Start tightening the reins in late 2025, with noticeable changes kicking in by early 2026. In Perrette’s words, the messaging is about to get “more aggressive.”
“We’re putting the net in the right place, so to speak,” Perrette said, confirming that the company has already spent several months determining who’s a legitimate user and who… might not be. “The message language right now has been a fairly soft, cancel-able message,” he explained, but that’s all about to change. By the fourth quarter of this year, “people have to take action,” he added. Translation:that cousin’s days of using your account are numbered.
What Streamers Don’t Let You Password Share?
HBO Max is just the latest streamer to ruin our freeloading fun. It’s been nearly two years sinceNetflix declared all-out war on password sharing— and as much as we mocked them for it, the move paid off. While users weren’t thrilled about losing access to their ex’s little sister’s best friend, Netflix saw a sharp increase in paid subscriptions. Naturally, that got the attention of every other streaming executive in town.
Just like Netflix, Disney+ automatically detected whether you’re within your “main household,” using activity, devices, and Wi-Fi connections to sniff out freeloaders. If something looks fishy, expect to get hit with a one-time password request to verify your location. Now, HBO Max is stepping up to the plate. Asked how far along they are in the process, Perrette quipped that they’re still in the first inning, but hinted that the game’s moving fast: “The real benefit will start probably in the fourth quarter and then kick in in 2026.”
So while the current tone might still be polite, it won’t stay that way for long. By this time next year, account sharing on HBO Max could very well be extinct.
House of the Dragon
