Xbox One became the first and only new-generation console to feature HBO’s online app, HBO Go. If you have an HBO subscription, you can now instantly stream your favorite hit series through your console.
Available programming includes original television series such as Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and The Sopranos. Movies, sports, comedy specials, and documentaries are also online. Instead of watching shows on your laptop, you can now stream them on your television from your console.
This app requires an authenticated HBO subscription, meaning that you need to have a TV provider that offers one. As with all Xbox Live applications, you also need to have functioning high-speed internet. Pay-per-view showings are not available on this app, nor is it open to anyone outside the United States and its territories.
That being said, earlier this year HBO made a statement concerning the future of the company. Chairman and CEO, Richard Plepler, said,
In 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States… there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them.
Essentially, HBO will be offering a standalone television service, which seems to indicate a larger platform for HBO Go. This may mean that Xbox One owners could subscribe only to HBO, and not have to deal with the hassle of signing up with a cable company. That would make HBO Go more similar to Netflix than a cable package, which would definitely increase HBO’s potential customer base.
Are you excited to have HBO Go offered on your Xbox One? Or are you more interested to wait for HBO’s standalone option next year?
