Movies Anywhere Follows Netflix's Lead In Sharing Crackdown

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses made huge changes--some to survive, some to earn consumer goodwill. Streaming services went in big on features that would let people watch movies and TV shows together. Now, as Netflix prepares for a big crackdown on password sharing, Movies Anywhere is pulling back on is sharing options as well, the company announced.

If you're someone who still buys their movies on disc, you probably know what Movies Anywhere is. The codes for digital movies that come packed in with each of those discs are generally for Movies Anywhere--a way for studios to keep physical movie releases relevant in an increasingly online world. One of the coolest features of Movies Anywhere has been Screen Pass, which lets a Movies Anywhere user share up to three movie passes per month without having to share login info. That feature, however, is going away.

"As the experience continues to evolve, we want to notify you that effective May 1 users will no longer be able to use the Screen Pass feature to send a Screen Pass," the announcement says. "For Screen Passes sent prior to May 1, recipients will still be able to accept and finish watching the movie before their passes expire. As of June 1, the Screen Pass feature will no longer be supported."

Movies Anywhere was one of the first streaming services to the sharing revolution, launching Screen Pass back in March 2020. Another feature the service is dropping support for is Watch Together, which allows you to share movies with other users by watching them in a mutual online stream; this service also comes to an end on June 1.

Netflix, meanwhile, is focusing on password and account sharing, asking users to pay extra to watch from non-home locations. Other notable services like Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max have yet to announce any similar changes to account usage.