Sky and Microsoft apologise for Sky Player issues

Microsoft and Sky have revealed that the Sky Player problems were down to 'phenomenal demand' for the service.

As we reported on Tuesday, the service was hit by a series of problems which meant it was taken offline at around midday. It then returned before being taken down once again.

In a joint statement, Sky and Microsoft said:

'Sky Player on Xbox 360 launched on Tuesday 27th October and was met with phenomenal demand, with many tens of thousands of customers attempting to sign up within the first hour of launch,'


'Unfortunately due to the unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand, we did not have the capacity to satisfy all service requests and therefore temporarily suspended all access to the service.

'Today, the rollout will be implemented in phases to ensure that consumers experience both a smooth sign-up process and high-quality experience. We apologise to all customers that have not been able to experience Sky Player on Xbox 360, we assure them that this is being rectified and we thank them for their patience.'

Our own Marty has played around with the service and has commented:

'Choice of content is impressive, definitely more than one 'On Demand' programme I've had an interest in.

'Quality of on demand seems to be normal broadcast quality at least, there doesn't seem to be much artifacting, and although there is some definite stalling before the programme launches there's been no re-buffering. I definifely like that there are no ad breaks during the programmes, as is the case with Sky Anytime.

Post your views on the service below.




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Originally Posted by Console Monster 'Unfortunately due to the unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand, we did not have the capacity to satisfy all service requests and therefore temporarily suspended all access to the service.

Pisses me right off when they use that excuse. They didn't think that they'd be more the 3 or 4 people using it? C'mon Sky/MS, it's a new feature that FREE to download and play about with. That alone would convince 70% of UK Xbox users to check it out. Not to mention that at least around 50% of UK users have sky and would try this out instantly when they saw it.

----ing useless ------s. This wasn't even at peak times! It was in th morning and they still couldn't handle it. EPIC ----ING FAILURE.

^ what he said x 2 ^

So is this update live now? Twitter/Facebook/Sky etcetc? I know skys been temp suspended but what about the other stuff?

The update is due later in November - the Sky release was totally seperate - but at least it appears to be working properly this evening.

It's working properly now, but only if you had already downloaded the Ske Player software!

I knew there would be problems with this. Just as well I never bothered downloading it and have no intention of doing so either.

I was watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford at it cut off about 25 minutes from the end with zero warning, telling me I had to be logged in to view the content. Would it resume afterwards? Nope - and there's no way of skipping forward, only fast forward.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a film nearly 2 3/4 hours long, it took ten minutes to fast forward to the point at which it crapped out. Very irritating.

So no, it isn't working properly.

how do you actully get this on theirs no option for me

It's in the Videos section - if it's not there maybe it's been pulled again.

never been their for me the nxe is a confusing mess

Some people don't have access. Microsoft issued another statement tonight saying they will see how demand copes over weekend and slowly phase it in for those without it.

This has been about as successful as Raised's botched sex-op.

In terms of launch I'd definitely agree - when it's working though, and if (and it's a big if) you already have a movies or sports subscription, it's a great addition being able to watch "On Demand" stuff - I've watched quite a lot of movies already, and other than the Jessie James movie it's been decent.

If you don't have Sky - this is a really really bad option - get a dish.

Just turned on the console this morning and Sky Player was there for me to install.
Sweet for "on demand" stuff, no way I am shelling out for a multi-room subscription to watch live stuff though (if I am in danger of missing something, I'll Sky+ it).
Works nicely though

Mwuhahahahah! I have an evil plan for this... My brother is going to sign up his other halfs parents sky sub for his Xbox, they have the full kaboodal - Sky Sports/Movies/Multiroom. They dont have an Xbox and wont ever use it, so its all cool. BUUUUUT he'll sign up on his current elite, he's replacing this elite with that MW2 Super elite when thats out and I'll be having his hand me down. And from what I've read once Sky is signed up on 1 Xbox its on the Xbox for good.

So I'll be getting his Sky sub I could tell him, but that would ruin the fun

You can only link one Xbox360 to an account at a time, so if he's planning to sign up his new one to the same account, it's not gonna fly - you can move the subs about though.

My plan is similar, we're going to show-boat of my girlfriends parents subscription as they have no Xbox and the full whack Sky package including HD. Sadly multi-room they don't have, so we could pay them a fiver for that or just have on-demand. Hopefully it'll work fine.

Originally Posted by MartyG You can only link one Xbox360 to an account at a time, so if he's planning to sign up his new one to the same account, it's not gonna fly - you can move the subs about though.

Exactly, it'll be on my 'new' xbox

Won't tell him that he can change it

Originally Posted by phatmuther This has been about as successful as Raised's botched sex-op.

something good came out of it, when people tell me to go ---- myself witch happens on a daily basis i can.

i hope their movie choices are better than when it first came out on the pc the only thing worth watchin g was flatliners

I guess that very much depends on what you like, there must be over 200 odd to choose from - my tastes are quite eclectic, so there's plenty there I'm happy to watch.

Edit - just looking again now, that must be closer to 1000 as there's nearly 200 in the drama section alone.

if its got animal house on their then it gets the thumbs up from me

My bros xbox downstairs has access to the Sky player, mines isnt even on the dash to download

Originally Posted by Raisedbyflames if its got animal house on their then it gets the thumbs up from me

No Animal House I'm afraid - there's Airplane!, 48 Hrs, The Big Lobowski, Breakfast Club, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut, Waynes World & Young Frankenstein under Comedy as a couple of picks I'd watch. That last one is an absolute classic.

Anyone with a Gold account and an existing Sky account can get 1 months free live streaming using the code XBOX1MONTHFREE on your Sky Account web page.