After months of speculation and years of patience on our end, Disney+ is finally taking its step into Malaysia. How much is it? It will set you back MYR 54.90 for three months and it starts in June 2021. If you are already a customer of Astro, there are also special packaged for the streaming platform.
For the longest time, the dominating force in the on-demand content streaming service in Malaysia was dominated by none other than Netflix. Of course, there were other competitors in Malaysia with less significant market shares like Prime Video, HBO GO, Astro GO, the homegrown iflix, Dim Sum, and even Viu. A handful of these competitors are not even direct competitors as they tend to show more Asian contents than the other platforms.
Netflix’s closest competitors in Malaysia at the current time would be HBO GO and Amazon’s Prime Video. Those two still pale in comparison to Netflix and what Netflix has to offer. This is also mostly due to Netflix’s highly aggressive marketing strategy and a whole slew of Netflix exclusives that has been churning out in the past few years. Netflix exclusives are also accompanied by very compelling licensed titles including ones from Disney’s studios. Those things made Netflix the platform to have if you want an extensive selection in great contents. Plenty of those contents are also Disney contents.
It only makes sense for Disney to get in on the whole streaming platform game. They are the largest entertainment organisation in the world, after all. In that sense, they own the largest collection of exclusively licensed contents in the world currently. If they start a streaming platform, they have the largest collection of exclusive titles in a single platform. That also means more money for Disney and that is why Disney+ was born.
Disney+ Hotstar is a streaming platform that is also tailored to Malaysia. That also means that you get exclusive viewing to locally produced films on the platform. Titles like Ejen Ali, Upin & Ipin, Alif & Sofia, and J2: Retribusi, Evolusi KL Drift, KL Gangster, Gol & Gincu, and even Zombitopia are all coming to the platform. There are top selections from the rest of the Asian region too with the likes of Ip Man 4, Infernal Affairs, The Legend of Haolan, and Pandian Stores and Vishwaroopam 2 in the mix too.
Of course, when it is Disney, you expect the bigger Disney blockbusters to appear in the platform. You can now watch WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the upcoming Loki, Frozen, Mula, Maleficent, The Lion King, Marvel’s Avengers, and so much more from Disney+ Hotstar. You even have highly acclaimed titles coming on top of the platform like Fresh off the Boat, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, and even Grey’s Anatomy.
That said, a few of theses familiar titles that you might have seen on Netflix or other streaming platforms will disappear from the other platforms as Disney+ Hotstar becomes available in Malaysia. As per reported too, Sony has signed an exclusive deal with Netflix instead of Disney. In that case, for the time being we can expect Marvel’s Spiderman movies to be available on Netflix first before airing on Disney+ Hotstar.
Disney+ Hotstar starts streaming for Malaysia on the 1st June 2021 onward. Customers can head over to Disney+ Hotstar website for more information and to subscribe to the platform. Disney+ Hotstar will set you back MYR 54.90 every three months and can be viewed on up to 2 displays at a time. Is it worth subscribing to? That is for you to decide, but we are likely subscribing just for WandaVision, The Falcon and Winter Soldier, the upcoming Loki, and the new Star Wars: The Bad Batch series.