From March 31, Disney+ Hotstar will stop airing HBO shows, which means that some of the most popular titles, such as ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ and ‘The Last of Us,’ will no longer be available to Indian subscribers.

The announcement was made on Twitter by the streamer’s facilitation service, @hotstar helps.

It is a double whammy for its Indian users, especially since the HBO Max launch in India appears to have stalled. HBO Max, by the way, is the most expensive streaming service in the United States, IANS reported from New Delhi.

According to media analysts, this could be a result of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s plans to cut $5.5 billion in costs, including about $3 billion in non-sports content.

Hotstar has been streaming HBO original shows since January 2016, following a December 2015 exclusive agreement between Disney Star (previously Star India) and HBO. These shows, particularly ‘Game of Thrones,’ were a critical component of the streamer’s strategy to attract paid subscribers in India.

Following Disney’s $71.3 billion global acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which owned Star India, the service was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar in April 2020.

In the words of @hotstar_helps, “You can continue enjoying Disney+ Hotstar’s vast library of content spanning over 100,000 hours of TV Shows and Movies in 10 languages and coverage of major global sporting events.” Will that be a big-enough hook for India subscribers, minus the IPL and HBO Max content?