Microsoft has again apologised for pulling Sky Player on Xbox 360, blaming “unprecedented levels of simultaneous demand” for the service’s suspension.

“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,” the firm said in a statement. “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.

“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.”

First announced in May, Sky Player on Xbox 360 will allow Xbox Live Gold members in the UK and Ireland to access a range of content to view live or on-demand when it resumes. The basic viewing package will cost non-Sky TV customers £15 per month.

http://www.edge-online.com/news/xbox-360-sky-problems-caused-by-“unprecedented”-demand

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wow tens of thousands in one hour. That is pretty big.

They did release it during a major UK school holiday period. That is not going to help much. Lots or parents and kids off for week gives them plenty of time to try out the new Sky player or it did for a while.

Bullshit. Why cant companies just admit that they fucked something up.

WOW

That does look pretty awesome

@kowen, yea kowen i remember when they announced this, and i watched it a few days ago. it looks so sweet. shame i dont have sky or a 360 otherwise i would definitely use the service. hopefully bbc/itv/4/5 can get a similar service working for the 360 and ps3 working in next couple of years

They did admit they fucked up.  They said they did not have the server capacity to handle the loads.  So they are now rolling it out in phases.

Good point. But I doubt the tens of thousands. But I retract my second comment. Wasn't really thinking when I wrote it.

i'm not from the UK so let me know if this sounds correct. Sky is a cable TV provider and if you subscribe to their service at 50 pounds a month you can use this sky player on your 360 at no additional cost?

i don't have cable cause i don't particularly care for television especially at the price but this is certain a nice little perk for those that do.

I want this so much. Awesome service.

Sky is a satellite servie.  To get the service for free, you either have to also have 1 of the unlimited broadband packages, or Sky Multiroom (where you have more than 1 sky digibox in your house eg. living room and bedroom).