Sky Player launched earlier today on Xbox LIVE. It was more of a whimper though, and not the fanfare that Sky and Microsoft were themselves hoping. After the initial download users were faced with constant network error messages. Even a journalist at the launch event in London noted that they were having problems there too.
Just after 12 noon I noticed that Sky Player had been removed completely from the Spotlight section and the Video Marketplace on the NXE dashboard. The Official Xbox 360 Magazine posted this on their Twitter.
Microsoft have posted the following on the Xbox Support website:
The Sky Player on Xbox 360 service did successfully launch early this morning, it has subsequently been suspended due to an unforeseen technical issue. With so much excitement and interest in the service, we’d much prefer to ensure that our customers enjoy the highest possible quality of service. We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to our customers who have attempted to access the service today. Sky Player engineers are hard at work to resolve the problem – we expect to have the full service available tomorrow.
So there you have it. We will now have to wait until sometime tomorrow for the service to launch proper.
UPDATE: Sky Player now says “Coming later today” on the dashboard. Clicking on the icon brings up a rather naff promo video.
UPDATE 2: Major Nelson has just posted this on his Twitter: UK Xbox LIVE Members: If you are having trouble w/ the Sky Player, we are aware of the issues and are investigating.
UPDATE 3: Via @OMXUK: Update! Sky Player is now back up, and working, but only if you’ve already downloaded the software. I have just tested it and no, it is not working. Still the promo video when clicked on.
UPDATE 4: Via @SuperKaylo: Sky Player update, there’s a statement on the Xbox support site here: http://bit.ly/18Nwlt. The statement has been added above.
