Fresh off a successful launch in India, Disney+ is making its way across Asia as the service is set to launch in Japan on June 11. According to Deadline, the service is launching in partnership with NTT Docomo, Japan’s top mobile operator. The company currently operates a separate subscription service called Disney Deluxe in Japan, which they debuted with NTT Docomo last year. Disney Deluxe subscribers will see their service automatically upgraded to Disney+.
“In APAC, Disney+ has successfully been launched in Australia and New Zealand, and recently in India with Disney+ Hotstar. We are thrilled to now bring the magic of Disney+ to our consumers in Japan, and to continue entertaining our loyal fans here with Disney’s heart-warming stories and beloved characters,” said Uday Shankar, president, The Walt Disney Company APAC.
Like in other countries, subscribers in Japan will have access to content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, as well as originals including “The Mandalorian.” The service will cost $6.49 (JPY700) per month.
During their Q2 2020 earnings call earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed the streaming service will begin to roll out in Japan in June and then in additional markets in Europe — the Nordics, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal — in September and then in Latin America towards the end of the year.
Disney+ launched in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland on March 24. In the UK, Disney+ costs £5.99 per month, or £59.99 per year (~£4.99). Throughout Europe (Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and France), the service costs €6.99 per month, or €69.99 per year (~5.83€).
After a slight delay, the service launched in India on April 3. The streaming service was supposed to launch on March 29 in collaboration with Hotstar, an Indian streaming service. The launch was to coincide with the start of the Indian Premiere League (IPL) cricket tournament — a huge audience puller for the service. However, the season was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns and affected the launch of Disney+ as well.
The service launched with two tiers: Disney+ VIP and Disney+ Premium. Disney+ VIP members have access to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Bollywood films, Hotstar originals, unlimited live sports and Star TV serials for INR 399 ($5.30) a year. Disney+ Premium subscribers on the other hand, get access to all the content Disney+ VIP members get, along with 29 Disney+ originals — including “The Mandalorian” — as well as U.S. shows from HBO, Showtime and Fox.