It’s a major international expansion. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Disney is planning to launch Disney Plus in 42 countries and 11 territories this summer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’s a significant expansion that could keep the pressure on other streaming services like Netflix and HBO Max.
Here is the list of new countries getting Disney Plus, per The Hollywood Reporter:
Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City, and Yemen.
And here is the list of territories:
Faroe Islands, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, St. Pierre and Miquelon Overseas Collective, Åland Islands, Sint Maarten, Svalbard & Jan Mayen, British Indian Ocean Territory, Gibraltar, Pitcairn Islands, and St Helena.
The major expansion could also help Disney jump-start its subscriber growth, which has slowed. Disney Plus started off strong, surpassing 100 million subscribers less than a year and a half after its November 2019 launch. However, while Disney said in October that the service has 118.1 million paid subscribers, that figure was up only 2.1 million from the previous quarter. Disney Plus’ subscriber count also lags behind Netflix’s nearly 222 million paid subscribers.
Like Netflix, though, Disney also continues to invest heavily into new content to try and attract subscribers. Just this week, Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan reiterated that a series based on the books is in development for Disney Plus, and earlier this month, Disney said that Pixar’s Turning Red would be ditching theaters to premiere on the streaming service.