Hulu Extends Its Watch Party Feature To Include More Subscribers

Hulu has finally extended its Watch Party feature to all subscribers, regardless of tier. Initially launched in May of 2020, and exclusive to the $12 pay tier, the company has now extended the feature to all users.

The news comes via Variety, as Hulu reported that over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, customers hosted a record number of watch parties to watch the new holiday romcom Happiest Season. The Hulu original series Pen15 and episodes of ABC's The Bachelorette also have been popular titles for Watch Party during this initial trial run.

To use Hulu's Watch Party, users select the Watch Party icon on each title's Details page and then share a link with up to seven other Hulu subscribers to link with. While you're watching, group members can react in real-time through the chat function and control their own playback. Watch Party, for now, is available only on the web-browser version of the service.

While the technology is nothing new, as third party sites like Rabbit had been around for years and Chrome extensions like Netflix Party--now called Teleparty--have made it possible for friends to sync up what they're watching. However, having streamers creating their app-specific feature is finally coming around.