Disney+ has already made a huge splash in the streaming industry since its release less than a year ago. Now, with more than 60 million subscribers, the platform is hoping to trailblaze in a new way, with the GroupWatch feature.
According to Deadline, GroupWatch is the just-released feature for Disney+ that allows a group of subscribers to, uh, watch content “together.” Of course, considering this is all done through technology, the “together” aspect is limited to being able to react to the scenes on the screen, pause and play video, and just generally have the feeling that you’re enjoying the same content with friends and family.
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Unfortunately, if you’re looking to have a full conversation while you GroupWatch something on Disney+, you’re going to be out of luck. As of now, all that you can do while you watch is respond to what’s on screen with one of six emojis: “like,” “funny,” “sad,” “angry,” “scared” and “surprised.”
Jerrell B. Jimerson, SVP Product Management for Disney+, said, “Storytelling comes alive when you’re able to share and enjoy it with others, and in this moment when many are still apart from their friends and family, GroupWatch offers a way to safely connect virtually by co-viewing your favorite Disney+ stories with your favorite people from the comfort of your living room.”
Even though it would appear that Disney+ has been trying to get GroupWatch going since the beginning of the global pandemic, the company said the feature has been in development since before the lockdown. Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has only further shown the desire of people to connect digitally, especially when it comes to watching movies and TV series since large gatherings are still fairly rare.
So, for now, if you have Disney+, you can have a digital meet-up and enjoy some Mouse House content. Currently, GroupWatch is available in the US and will find itself in international territories in the fall.
