Aren’t advertisements that can’t be skipped annoying?
We might not be able to say that for much longer, due to MoviePass rearing its thorny head once more. The MoviePass 2.0 app will be released this summer and will be supported by micropayments and advertisements. Unlike adverts on other platforms, however, you will be forced to view them because they will only play when your eyes are on the screen.
The firm, which was recently purchased by Spikes following his unceremonious departure from MoviePass in 2018, hosted its debut ceremony today at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City. Spikes started by addressing the Helios and Matheson Analytics-shaped elephant in the room right away. The company is currently known for being the parent company of MoviePass, which blew up shortly after the corporation purchased the startup, which became famous for giving unlimited movie tickets for a monthly charge. MoviePass’ second life follows a succession of comically terrible failures under the supervision of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which began in 2011 with a small team of developers and was led by co-founder Spikes.
CEO Stacy Spikes revealed MoviePass 2.0 in a presentation yesterday, and Tom’s Guide provided an explanation of how it will function. Instead of paying a monthly membership as with the previous version of the app, you may now earn virtual currency to spend on movies. These tokens are earned by watching advertisements, with your phone’s camera ensuring that you are paying attention.
There appears to be no information on how this would function for persons who use glasses or those who are disabled. While the ad is playing, the phone will most likely have to be held to your face rather than placed up on a table away from you. Not everyone has the power or dexterity to keep their phone to their face for long enough for advertisements to play. Nystagmus sufferers may find that the program fails to identify their rapid eye movements.
Pricing is being kept under wraps by Stacy Spikes, but there will be tiered subscription plans. It’s unclear whether everyone, regardless of tier, will have to go through the dystopian commercial integration, but it would solve the original MoviePass’ primary business problem. With a monthly fee of $10 and the ability to watch up to three films, the service would only be profitable if users forgot about their subscription and didn’t use it as intended. That they didn’t do. MoviePass may continue to profit its subscribers under the new system, even if they aren’t engaged enough to actually use the service they pay for.
If you’re interested in diving deeply into a late-stage capitalist nightmare, MoviePass 2.0 is due to launch this summer.