Looking forward to House of the Dragon season 2? Then you might want to ignore the fact Warner Bros just upped the cost of Max

House of the Dragon season 2 is finally out next week… only problem is, you’re now having to pay more to enjoy it.

The promise of streaming services is that they were a cheaper alternative to cable that let you watch whatever you want, whenever you want, ad free. Over time, they started making original programs and films too. Except these days, pretty much every streaming service has a plan that costs the same as what you originally paid, now with ads, and the amount you’re now paying to not have ads goes up seemingly at the whim of whichever the relevant executives are. This time, it’s those at the top of Warner Bros. that have decided to up the cost of its own streaming service, Max, formerly known as HBO Max.

That’s right, effective immediately you’ll be paying a dollar more a month if you’re on the monthly ad-free plan, the cost rising from $16 to $17 a month (via Deadline). If you’re on the annual plan, you were previously paying $150, but now you’ll be paying $170, an increase of $20 a year (that works out at about $14 a month, so it’s still cheaper than the new monthly price of $17). Those of you that don’t mind watching a few ads will still be playing either $10 a month or $100 a year, so don’t worry, you get to enjoy House of the Dragon season 2 just the same as you would have anyway.

It does feel a bit sneaky of Warner Bros. to increase the cost like this, literally less than two weeks away from the release of House of the Dragon season 2 (which will easily be the streaming service’s biggest show of the year). So if you’re desperate to have both the Game of Thrones spin-off and other upcoming shows like The Penguin, you’re going to have to go a dollar shorter a month.