Disney Plus is launching GroupWatch in the U.S.
The new feature lets Disney Plus subscribers invite up to six friends and family members to stream a TV show or movie together.
GroupWatch is designed to boost overall usage of the service all participants must have a Disney Plus account GroupWatch already was on Disney Plus’ product road map pre-COVID, but the pandemic accelerated requests from users for such a feature.
“Movies and TV shows are by their nature social, and people want to watch them together,” Jerrell Jimerson, SVP of product management for Disney Streaming Services said.
Hulu, Amazon, Twitch, Facebook’s Messenger and Verizon Media’s Yahoo Sports have added similar watch-party features. GroupWatch is available on all titles in the Disney Plus library across web, mobile apps, connected TV devices and smart TVs.
“We were really focused on making it easy to use for friends and family… and making sure the viewing experience wasn’t tarnished.” Jimerson said.
Disney Plus subscribers can initiate an invitation to a GroupWatch party via the icon on the Details page of series and movies in the service.
Photos by Getty Images