Movies Anywhere, the digital movie service that allows buyers to purchase a film and have it automatically distributed across a large number of platforms, is getting rid of two features that were first introduced during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both were designed to help movie fans share their film experience with others online.
In an email sent to Movies Anywhere account users, and in posts on its support pages, it was revealed that the Watch Together feature will be shut down on June 1. This feature allows users to set up a watch party with up to nine friends to watch a film at the same time, if all of them own the digital version of the same film.
The other feature that's being ditched is Screen Pass. This allows a user to send a free pass from their digital movie collection to someone else who doesn't have the movie, so they can watch it for a limited time. After May 1, users won't be able to use the Screen Pass feature. If any Screen Pass films are sent before May 1, the person getting the movie can still watch it until the feature is completely shut down on June 1.
In its email describing the shutdown of the features, it said:
We are committed to focusing on an experience which highlights the things our users are most passionate about, primarily growing their collections and watching their favorite movies across platforms and devices.
Currently, Disney, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros all participate in the Movies Anywhere service. Some big Hollywood studios are still not a part of the service, including Paramount, MGM (now owned by Amazon), and Lionsgate.
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