Since HBO Max launched in May 27, WarnerMedia’s streaming service slowly made itself accessible to platform after platform with Roku users sitting by, not-so-patiently, waiting for their turn. Soon enough, workarounds made it possible for some Roku devotees to climb aboard and watch original HBO Max shows including Love Life and The Flight Attendant, along with a vast back catalogue of content. Still, millions of users remained frustrated with the two services seemingly at odds over how to seal a deal. On Wednesday morning, even, word that even Sony PlayStation 5 users could now stream HBO Max made the Roku issue stand out even more, but finally, word has come down that HBO Max and Roku are friends.
Via a press release, WarnerMedia announced that, beginning on Thursday, December 17, Roku users can nab HBO Max from the Roku channel store and subscribe from there. As long as they’ve got HBO subscription credentials, they can access the entire HBO Max library for streaming. This deal arrives shortly before Wonder Woman 1984 lands on the streaming service at no additional cost. From a statement from Roku Senior Vice President Scott Rosenberg:
“Reaching mutually beneficial agreements where Roku grows together with our partners is how we deliver an exceptional user experience at an incredible value for consumers and we are excited by the opportunity to deepen our longstanding relationship with the team at WarnerMedia.”
As Rosenberg points out, this should make the over 100 million people with Roku devices pretty happy, just in time for the holidays and while waiting for those vaccines to start circulating in abundance.