Sky has refuted rumours that it is in discussions with Microsoft to offer reduced price subscriptions for its cable TV service with the Xbox One.
The cable TV provider has confirmed it will not be offering reduced price subscriptions packages with the Xbox One when it launches later this year.
Earlier today it was said Microsoft and Sky were in talks regarding a new deal to offer heavily reduced Sky subscriptions with the Xbox One, but this has now been dispelled by Sky.
“We have no plans to sell Xbox hardware as part of a Sky subscription,” said a Sky spokesperson to TrustedReviews. “We have a longstanding partnership with Microsoft by which we distribute our content via Sky Go and NOW TV on Xbox. We look forward to continuing to work with them as part of our commitment to giving our customers more way to watch Sky programming in addition to their Sky HD box.”
It was originally suggested that the Xbox One could be utilised as a Sky set-top box or a companion device to existing Sky HD boxes, but would offer highly subsidised Sky subscriptions through the purchase of the console.
Although the deal was said to be not quite yet finalised, the two companies do already have a history of working well together, which helped fuel the original rumour.
Sky produced an Xbox 360 app back in 2009 to offer live events, TV and other on-demand Sky content through the console. It does require existing Xbox Live Gold and Sky subscriptions though.
The rumoured deal was thought to complement the new entertainment features highlighted during the Xbox One reveal last month, including the Instant Switching feature that lets users change between TV, music, gaming, internet browsing or any other Xbox One content “as fast as switching channels on the remote”.
A deal with Sky could have also been used within the Snap Mode function that allows multiple applications to run simultaneously on one screen, all fully interactive.
Microsoft has marketed the Xbox One as the “all-in-one entertainment system”, and a Sky deal would have certainly boosted the console’s ability to encompass all aspects of living room entertainment.
Next, check out our list of all the Xbox One games.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
