Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft has begun a “revised rollout” of its Xbox 360 Sky Player, though many customers remain without access to the service in what has been a troubled first week.

Speaking on the Xbox forums, the firm stated:  “We have been experiencing some technical issues with the Sky Player on Xbox 360 since launch last Tuesday morning. It is important to both Sky and Xbox that we give customers as much information as possible about why the service is not working and when we expect this to be resolved.

“As we said last week, some customers have been unable to experience full use of the service due to the initial demand for the service at launch, when so many people tried to access the service all at the same time.  



“Right now we are implementing a revised rollout which will see Sky Player become available to all Xbox 360 customers gradually. While unfortunately some customers do not have access to the service, tens of thousands more will be added each day, until the service is available to all.

“We are taking this phased approach to ensure that consumers experience a high-quality experience. The Sky team has contacted the affected Sky Player TV subscribers on Xbox directly with further updates. “

The Xbox 360 Sky Player first went live last week but was removed from general availability after a few hours thanks to what was described as “an unforeseen technical issue”.

The wait is all the more agonising for Microsoft considering its already underway high-profile TV advertising campaign highlighting the new service.