Comcast subscribers won’t have access to as much on-demand video through the Xbox 360 for much longer, as the cable giant is planning to remove its Xfinity app from the aging console.
In response to a question on Twitter, Comcast’s customer service account confirmed that its Xbox 360 app is going away. “We are removing this to make way for new updates and improvements to our online experience for customers,” Comcast said, as first reported by Windows Central.
Comcast brought Xfinity On Demand to the Xbox 360 nearly four years ago, letting stream thousands of movies and TV shows straight to the console without an additional cable box. At the time, it was part of a bigger push by Microsoft to turn the Xbox 360 into an entertainment hub; Verizon and Time Warner Cable also released Xbox 360 apps with support for live TV streaming, and have since brought those apps to the Xbox One.
Notably, Comcast’s app also didn’t count against subscribers’ Internet data caps, raising some net neutrality concerns. The FCC has since introduced rules that put this sort of preferential treatment in a gray area, though it’s worth noting that the upcoming Comcast Stream video service also won’t count against caps either.
There’s no word on whether Comcast plans to revamp its Xbox 360 support, move onto the Xbox One, or abandon streaming to consoles entirely. However, the company has been investing heavily in its own X1 TV platform, which stores DVR shows in the cloud and streams to phones, tablets, and computers.
The impact on you at home: Xbox 360 owners aren’t being completely cut off from on-demand content, as the console still supports several “TV Everywhere” apps that offer movies and TV shows with a cable subscription. But without Comcast’s app, the selection will be much more limited, and scattered across different apps and interfaces. Here’s a list of Xbox 360 apps that will still offer on-demand content, provided you get these channels through a Comcast TV subscription:
- A&E
- CW
- Epix
- Encore Play
- ESPN
- Fox Now
- FXNow
- HBO Go
- History
- Lifetime
- MTV
- Nat Geo TV
- Nickelodeon
- PBS
- Showtime Anytime
- Starz Play