Lovefilm, the European Netflix, has announced that its movie streaming service is coming to Sony’s PlayStation 3 games console.
A YouTube video leak, quickly pulled, had been widely circulated in the blogosphere earlier this week so it comes as no surprise. It’s also in line with the ramping up of Lovefilm’s digital strategy as it, like Netflix in the States, slowly begins to wean itself off the DVD in the post model that it’s founded on.
The partnership will see Lovefilm, which has 1.4 million subscribers, be potentially accessible by the PS3’s three million UK households. It follows a similar arrangement with Sony launched in March which saw the service become available on Sony Bravia Internet-connected televisions, Blu-ray players and Blu-ray Home Theatre kits.
Specifically, Lovefilm will become available on the XMB (Xross Media Bar) on all internet-connected PS3s, providing most subscribers access to “thousands of titles from major studios and independents”, streamed instantly to their TV via their PS3. That’s the same high profile placement on the PS3 that the BBC’s iPlayer currently benefits from as does Sony’s own VOD service.
It’s also worth noting that a PS3 tie-in, as would availability on the UK’s pending YouView Internet TV service, certainly makes Lovefilm’s future look more viable, and should Amazon be taking a hard look at an outright purchase, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.