Four years ago, Microsoft pitched the Xbox One as an all-in-one living room solution that included a focus on television entertainment, so much so that the effort has seemingly cost the company the goodwill of many avid gamers and ultimately stunted the adoption of the console for the foreseeable future. While spending much of the last three years’ cow-towing to ‘gamers’ of sorts and backpedaling on its vision of a television and media focused set top box, the company’s entertainment division seems to be keeping its eye on bringing a familiar living room experience to customers.
Announced a few days ago in a press release from integrated global media and entertainment company Starz, owners of an Xbox One and (presumably) Xbox One S will now be able to stream the network’s original shows as well as its licensed entertainment from a new app released on the console. Even though there are STARZ apps being delivered to the Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, Roku, Sony, Android TV and a host of other platforms, the Xbox One app is being described by the company as:
The STARZ app on Xbox One is a single destination for all subscribers who want to stream STARZ premium content. Its intuitive content discovery design and navigation offers ease of use and a compelling user experience, regardless of how the consumer purchased a subscription to STARZ. Subscribers to the STARZ sister networks, STARZ ENCORE and MOVIEPLEX, will also use this single destination app for access to stream. STARZ subscribers* may now download the app for free through the Xbox Live® service on their Xbox One and watch exclusive STARZ Original series including the upcoming season two premieres of “Blunt Talk” and “Ash vs. Evil Dead” on Sunday, October 2; as well as hundreds of movies and first-run films.
Interestingly enough, the STARZ app will use the current subscribers account as access when pair with an Xbox Live membership. Unlike the STARZ app for the App Store, Google Play, or Roku, it appears as though Xbox One owners will need a previous subscription to access content from the app rather than having the ability to purchase a cable-less offering for $8.99.
The new app should be available for download on the Xbox Store today. Any STARZ subscribers out there? Let us know what you think of the quality of the app as it compares to other offerings such as Showtime, HBO GO, or FXX.
