Xbox 360 owners who subscribe to Xfinity (Comcast), HBO or MLB.TV can now enjoy three new streaming platforms on their game consoles.
Yes, the latest rumors pointed to all three video-on-demand services heading to Xbox Live sometime today, and that has now been confirmed via Major Nelson. And why not? Microsoft said last fall both Xfinity and HBO would eventually be supported on the console.
Meaning, HBO Go, Xfinity and MLB.TV will be offered alongside Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and ESPN.
Originally, HBO Go was expected to hit the Xbox 360 in time to coincide with April 1, so viewers could watch the new season of Game of Thrones. As you probably already know, HBO Go also allows users to catch up on past episodes they may have missed, in addition to streaming movies featured on the network during a specific month.
The rumor of the March 27 launch made sense to many, considering the fact that Microsoft delivers updates on Tuesday.
“For one thing, Microsoft always releases Xbox updates (and really, any software update) on Tuesday,” Ryan Lawler of GigaOM explained.
“For another, it seemed extremely unlikely that HBO would want to have users try to download the app on the same day as the premiere, which could potentially create a bad user experience if things didn’t go as planned.”
This is certainly good news for fans of streaming media and brings us one-step closer to the day when we can ditch cable or satellite service once and for all. Obviously, it’s also a great way for people who missed episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones like me to catch up.
Note: You must be an HBO subscriber to access Go.
