The entertainment giant’s streaming platform is available in more than 100 countries, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America. And by the end of 2023, it plans to be online in even more territories. But in different regions there is a different version of Disney+. Some include the Star brand, others promote it as HotStar, and others have a separate distribution with ESPN+ and Hulu. But all that seems to be about to change. What will the new Disney Plus app look like to download?
As we indicate, instead of having a single app available worldwide, there are several versions of Disney Plus.
Doing a review, in Latin America, Disney Plus is marketed separately from the Star brand, and does so through a different subscription, especially because Star Plus in the region offers ESPN+ sports content. Subscribers can then choose Disney Plus for one child and Star Plus for another, or contract it out Combo Plus.
In Europe, the Star brand is included in Disney Plus, like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographic, but, unlike in Latin America, it does not have sports.
And in the United States, the Star brand does not exist. Disney Plus has the same brands as in Latin America and separately, although you market Hulu and on the other hand ESPN+. As in Latin America, it is also possible to hire a Combo that contains the three applications, at a lower cost.
In India, there is DisneyPlus HotStar, which unifies the traditional Disney Plus library with HotStar. And for its part, Hotstar operates as a separate streaming service, aimed at Hindu citizens abroad. Its content in these countries (such as Canada, the United States, Singapore or the United Kingdom) is composed of local programs and sports content from Star India.
Disney Plus’ next big international launch will be on November 17, 2022, in the Philippines, where Disney+ will launch, and will also use the HotStar X version of the Disney+ app.
The Disney’s own technology blog indicated that Hotstar X will replace the original Hotstar app as this version was created more than three years ago.
It’s not uncommon for apps to be updated, whether it’s small incremental changes or big updates. It seems like Disney+ is undergoing some changes in many countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Thailand.
To do this, he predicts that in the short term, all countries will receive a new Disney Plus app to download, which will unify several criteria.