Sky Player launch on Xbox 360 delayed

The launch of the Sky Player on the Xbox 360 was due to take place yesterday (Tuesday 27 October) but "an unforeseen technical issue" meant it had to be suspended.

Sky's deal with Microsoft was announced in May 2009.

Users will be able to access Sky channels through their Xbox 360 console without needing a satellite dish.

The launch was due to take place at 10am on 27 October, but users who clicked the Sky Player icon were met with a rolling advert for the service and the message 'Coming Later Today'.

The online version of the Sky Player also suffered technical problems with its live streaming during Tuesday.

A statement from Microsoft read: "The launch was met with phenomenal demand, with many tens of thousands of customers attempting to sign up within the first hour of launch. Unfortunately, we did not have the capacity to satisfy all service requests and therefore temporarily suspended the service."

The company today implemented a revised roll-out of access to the Sky Player on the Xbox 360 to prevent the problem happening again - however some users may still not be able to access the service until later today.

Subscribers to the player will be able to watch 24 Sky channels live, including sports and movies, as well as TV on demand through their Xbox 360 console.

There will also be a live chat function, letting users communicate with friends during TV shows.

To access the Player users will need to buy an Xbox Live Gold Account, which costs £40 per year.

Live TV for customers with Sky Broadband Unlimited or Multiroom is then free. Subscriptions for non-Sky TV customers will be £15 per month.