The Memorial Day 2023 sales have begun – and, as with any major savings event, such as Black Friday and Prime Day, we know you'll be on the hunt for some mega money saving deals.
In recent years, some of the globe's best streaming services – Hulu, Paramount Plus, and HBO Max to name three – have had the price of their subscription plans slashed, albeit temporarily. The prospect of similar deals being offered to customers, then, during this year's Memorial Day weekend shouldn't be discounted.
Well, aside from HBO Max anyway. This platform no longer exists, with Max – Warner Bros Discovery's (WBD) new super streamer – officially launching on May 23. Essentially, it combines the best of HBO Max and Discovery Plus' extensive back catalogs – read more about it in our article on the seven biggest things you need to know about Max – but, like many of its streaming peers, it's suffered its fair share of launch day problems. Multiple users, us included, have struggled to log into Max since it debuted. Meanwhile, WBD has been forced to apologize after numerous writers and directors angrily called the company out over a glaring crediting blunder.
But we digress. What does the arrival of HBO Max's successor mean for possible Max-based discounts? Has WBD reduced the price of Max's three subscription tiers for Memorial Day 2023, or are you being asked to sump up (ahem) the Max-imum fee?
In short: it's the latter. In a statement provided exclusively to TechRadar, a WBD spokesperson confirmed that there would be "no launch promo to share" for Memorial Day weekend. That means you'll need to fork out $9.99 per month for Max's ads-supported tier, $15.99 each month for its ads-free plan, and $19.99 a month if you've been eyeing the ultimate ads-free option.
That said, you can take advantage of a 20% offer that's available by signing up to any of Max's 12-month subscription plans. The streamer's ads-supported plan will set you back $99.99 per year, the ads-free one is $149.99 for 12 months, and the ultimate ads-free tier is $199.99 a year. So there are savings to be had, just not the ones you'd hoped for.
Still, signing up for WBD's new streaming giant is well worth the investment. For one, you'll gain access to the best Max shows, best Max movies, and best Max documentaries around.
If you've been sleeping on, say, watching Succession, House of the Dragon, Euphoria, any of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films, Elvis, Dune, or any of WBD's biggest hits of recent years, now is the time to pounce.
Realistically, I couldn't see WBD caving and cutting the price of any of its Max subscription tiers.
In this article, I previously mentioned there were two major reasons why: the service's official launch on May 23, and the recently celebrated (if you can really say that) National Streaming Day.
It was highly unlikely that WBD would shave any dollars or cents off Max for Memorial Day weekend, especially with the platform only making its debut two days ago (at the time of writing). And, with the amount of issues currently plaguing it, it wouldn't be in WBD's best interests to convince people to sign up or reactivate their HBO Max accounts, only to be met with the possibility of being unable to sign in at all. That wouldn't be a good look for WBD, would it?
Furthermore, before it evolved into Max, the now-defunct HBO Max was only discounted on May 20 and 21 for National Streaming Day. WBD gave potential subscribers a 20% discount on its pre-pay offer (find out more in our best streaming deals guide for May 2023), which represented decent value for money. If you're interested, you can see how Max's price points stack up against its competitors, such as Netflix and Prime Video, in our Max price guide.
To sum up, then, the chances of seeing any Max-based deals in time for Memorial Day were close to zero, and that's proven to be the case. Of course, WBD could have surprise us all, but that never seemed to be a scenario that would play out. So, if you want to subscribe to Max, you'll have to pay the full amount for any of its three tiers.
For more Max-based coverage, check out our suggestions for seven unmissable new movies and shows to stream on Max guide. Alternatively, read up on the best Max family movies worth watching with your kids.
