HBO Max continues global roll-out with APAC launch in 12 markets confirmed for March

HBO Max’s Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD)-owned streamer HBO Max will launch in 12 new markets across Asia Pacific (APAC) on March 26, as the platform comes close to completing its global roll-out.

The service will go live in Bhutan, Fiji, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The expansion follows HBO Max’s recent launches in Italy and Germany, with the APAC roll-out occurring on the same day as the platform’s long-awaited arrival in the UK and Ireland.

Subscribers in APAC will have access to entertainment brands and IP such as HBO, Harry Potter, the DC Universe, Cartoon Network, Max Originals, Discovery, TLC and a wide range of Hollywood movies.

TV content will include HBO and Max Originals such as House of the Dragon, The Last of Us and medical drama The Pitt, alongside A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and season three of dark young-adult series Euphoria, which premieres on April 13.

As reported by C21, HBO Max will launch in New Zealand as a direct-to-consumer streaming service from mid-2026.

Earlier this month, WBD executives claimed that being so late to the streaming market in several territories is to the platform’s benefit.

JB Perrette, CEO and president of global streaming and games at WBD, said at the London launch: “This is an unparalleled moment for our service. Some may think we’re late to the streaming party, but our focus has been on harnessing the benefits of what we call ‘the last-mover advantage.’

“We are likely the last scaled global streamer to come to market. We’ve tried to learn from the rest, and this journey of strategic iteration and refinement that we’ve been on over the last several years has led us to this exciting moment.”