It looks like HBO Max is stretching its arms to create new partnerships and reap new benefits. Today, the streaming service has teamed up with Snapchat and made it possible to watch full-length pilot episodes of select shows on the social media platform.
Some examples include Looney Tunes, Gossip Girl, and even the all-popular Game of Thrones. The option is available through the Snap Minis feature, which debuted last year. Snapchat Minis is a way for third-party developers to showcase their product inside the social platform.
One of the more popular channels to make use of this feature was Headspace. HBO, however, is the first of its caliber to upload full episodes.
The main aim of this deal is obviously to attract more people to subscribe to HBO’s program, but it is more than that. The most noteworthy part of HBO Max’s Snapchat minis is having the ability to invite up to 63 people to watch the content together. What’s even better is that all participants can chat and share Bitmoji reactions during the show.
No HBO Max subscription is required to watch any of the shows, but don’t go thinking there are no catches laid out for you. At the end of each pilot episode, users who are 18 years or older will receive a pop-up prompting an HBO Max subscription.
The new Snapchat feature is available both on Android and iOS, and the pilot episodes on display will be refreshed in intervals yet to be announced. It would be interesting to see if competitors like Netflix and Disney+ follow in HBO’s footsteps. If so, this could prove to be a great benefit for Snapchat, maybe developing the trend into something more in the future.
