BBC iPlayer for Xbox 360 on Indefinite Hold

The Telegraph reported last week that the popular iPlayer initiative from the BBC won’t be coming to the Xbox 360 in the UK any time soon, as the project has been placed on indefinite hold.

“Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing. It wants to ensure that only those paying for Xbox Live Gold accounts can access its additional content services and even then there is usually a charge on top to get access to those. For example, to access the Sky Player on Xbox, you have to pay for a Gold subscription as well as a Sky subscription,” explained one of the sources close to the BBC.

This move maintains the status quo for the Xbox Live ecosystem. The Xbox 360 continues to require a Gold membership for high level chat features such as the Live party system, and also requires a Gold membership for Netflix access in North America (while Netflix recently became available on Sony’s PS3 via a disc from the online rental company, a feature which is expected to be integrated with the system next fall). Microsoft declined the Telegraph’s requests for comment on the issue.



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