Marvel’s paid streaming service Unlimited has undergone a complete overhaul. Originally a browser-only service that allowed users to stream back issues of older comics, now it’s available for iOS and Android and hoping to expand. Not only does that mean adding more content, but also adding incentives to those who pay for the service.
Growth can sometimes mean change, and the first big change was the name. Originally titled “Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited,” with the new overhaul it’s now simply titled “Marvel Unlimited.”
On the change in name, as well as the reasoning behind adding more incentives to use the product, SVP Peter Phillips had this to say:
“The ‘Digital Comics’ piece is coming off because our future growth plans for this product potentially go beyond just digital comics. For example, there are going to be member benefits, things like, you could get a discount in the Marvel store. There’s going to be a whole lot more down the road.”
While the Unlimited service has a loyal fanbase, it’s number of subscribers is much smaller than those who only use the Marvel Comics app. Phillips is aware of that and is hoping that the two can work in tandem together.
“The userbase of the Marvel Comics app is much larger. I’m not going to try to hide that. That being said, the number of subscriber is still a solid number, and it’s an important number, and those are some of our most loyal, important fans. There is some crossover between the two, but not as much as you might think. The two really work hand-in-hand. We’re doing gap fill-in. A lot of historical series have issues that maybe we didn’t digitize just because we have so many comics, so we’ve been going back and slowly trying to fill all those in for people.”
The changes have already begun, but Phillips is planning more content and incentives to be added during the summer. What are your thoughts on the change? Do you use the service? Will you now with the change? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
