Disney+ Now Have Over 94.9 Million Subscribers, Beating Four-Year Target

Disney+ subscribers now amount to more than 94.9 million, according to The Walt Disney Company in its latest earnings report. As The Verge noted, this means the streaming service has handily beaten its four-year target in just 14 months. According to a revised plan, Disney+ is now projecting between 230 million and 260 million subscribers by 2024.

Just last December, Disney said the subscriber count stood at 86 million. Despite the numbers that the company has announced earlier this week, The Verge’s report suggested that Disney+ might have already crossed the 100 million subscriber threshold, given that the latest official figure doesn’t take into account the platform’s release of the miniseries from Marvel Studios (also owned by Disney), WandaVision last month.

It is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) tie-in content made exclusively for the streaming service. Furthermore, it is also the first MCU release since the 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home and related to Avengers: Endgame which could help attract a huge amount of fans from all over the world to Disney+.

It goes without saying that Disney is likely to be quite pleased with the performance of its streaming platform. The COVID-19 pandemic has pummelled its iconic theme park and cruise ship businesses with the former saw revenue drop by 53%, resulting in a loss of USD$119 million (~RM481 million) in the most recent quarter. On the other hand, revenue from direct-to-consumer streaming increased by a stunning 73%.

Recently, there was some indication that Disney+ might launch in Malaysia soon but there is still no official word on that prospect. Netflix is likely the dominant international streaming service in Malaysia and still leads Disney+ globally with 203 million subscribers as noted in its latest financial report.

PlayStation Plus Subscribers To Get Five Free Games Next Month

PlayStation Plus usually gives its subscribers two free games, and this month, we got three. For February, it looks like Sony Interactive Entertainment is pushing five titles out for free.

The free games in question are Concrete Genie, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Biped, Control: Ultimate Edition, and Destruction AllStars. The first three games are for the PS4, while the latter two are for the PS5.

Though it’s worth pointing out that Control: Ultimate Edition is a bit controversial, in more ways than one. There is the issue with the way upgrades from the PS4 to PS5 versions were handled, which we won’t get to now. And then, there’s this, where seemingly only the PS5 version of the game is free for the Asia region. In the US, the version for both versions of the console will be claimable next month.

That aside, the highlights for this month are probably Destruciton AllStars and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. The former launches on the day it becomes free, much like Fall Guys last year. As for the latter, it’s made by Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi, and is considered the spiritual successor to the series since Konami is still sleeping on the IP.

At any rate, PlayStation Plus subscribers can claim these games starting from 2 February until 1 March 2021. Destruction AllStars, though, will be available until 5 April, for some reason. As always, if you haven’t gotten this month’s free games, now’s as good a time as any to claim them.