Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max ran into technical glitches in its first day of launch on Tuesday, causing many users to gripe on social media about issues the company said were quickly fixed.
DownDetector, a website which monitors outages, notes that around 400 users reported having issues with Max at around 9 am ET.
“Everything’s great here,” one Twitter user wrote along with a video of Max opened, flickering and then crashing.
Another user shared a screenshot of an error message on the Max app, writing “The new Max app picking up right where HBO Max left off.”
“The HBO Max app experience is easily one of the worst I’ve ever seen from a major media company. And here the Max app seems to top it. Though to its credit the Max app is much faster as it crashes more quickly than ever before,” the user added, sharing a separate video of the app crashing.
Two users said that they went to the Max website and clicked “start streaming” and nothing happened.
“Literally nothing. It doesn’t even try to load the next page,” one said. “I can’t even feign surprise at this point.”
“Great production launch. No notes,” another joked.
LightShed Partners analyst Rich Greenfield tweeted that he was unable to even login through the app, adding “Maybe too soon?”
Another user said their firestick wouldn’t update to Max and that they “manually have to find shows.”
“This whole launch has been an unnecessary disaster,” the user said.
A Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson told TheWrap that only “minor” issues have emerged thus far and were “quickly remedied.”
“You must always anticipate issues on a tech rollout of this scale,” the spokesperson added.
Here’s Everything Streaming in 4K on Max
The service, which combines the libraries of HBO Max and Discovery+, will allow audiences to explore the worlds of HBO, the DC Universe and ‘Harry Potter‘ — plus movies, and original series with genres like true crime, reality, food and comedy. Max offers three pricing tiers: the $9.99 per month Max Ad-Lite plan, the $15.99 per month Max Ad-Free plan and the $19.99 per month Max Ultimate Ad-Free plan.
Existing HBO Max subscribers will have access to Max at the same price as their current subscription and can access their current plan features for a minimum of six months following its launch. HBO Max subscribers’ profiles, settings, watch history, “Continue Watching” and “My List” items will also migrate to Max, so they can pick up streaming right where they left off.
The relaunch comes as the entertainment giant has been undergoing a major restructuring, which it expects to complete by the end of 2024. WBD estimates the moves, including layoffs and other cost cuts, will result in up to $5.3 billion in restructuring charges before taxes, including up to $3.5 billion in content impairment and development write-offs.
In addition to the combined offering, Discovery+ will continue as its own separate, lower-priced service. The company also plans to launch its own free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) service this year.
