GeekWire: HBO Adds Co-Watching Feature To HBO Now and HBO Go, With Help From Seattle Startup Scener
HBO added a new video chat feature to its HBO Now and HBO GO apps, allowing subscribers to watch shows and movies “together” via a Google Chrome extension.
The “virtual movie theater” technology is powered by Scener, a two-year-old Seattle startup that was incubated inside RealNetworks.
The idea is to let people watch live streams together amid the shelter-in-place mandates that have shut down movie theaters and prevented get-togethers. Viewers can host watch parties with up to 20 people; all must be subscribers. It’s similar in functionality to Netflix Party or Twitch’s Watch Parties.