PS3 Netflix Support Announced

26 Oct 2009 at 14:40:39 by Tim McDonald

Sony has announced that US-based PlayStation 3 owners will soon be able to stream both TV shows and movies to their console through Netflix.

Following on from speculation this weekend that Netflix support would be coming to either PlayStation 3 or Wii, Sony has announced that the service - already confirmed for Xbox 360 - will indeed hit PlayStation 3 next month.

Users will be able to instantly stream "thousands of movies and TV episodes from Netflix," apparently, and with a PS3 install base of 9 million in the US as well as 11.1 million Netflix subscribers, we think a lot of people will take them up on the offer.

It'll cost $8.99 USD a month, which seems a fair price, and subscribers will have the ability to stream an unlimited number of movies and TV series episodes to any "Netflix ready device," like, say, their PS3s. They'll also be able to get DVDs delivered to their homes.

The one feature that does surprise us is that the service will require users to insert a disc into the PS3. It looks like this is a temporary measure rather than a one off, as this is preceded with the word "initially."

"The free instant-streaming disc leverages Blu-ray's BD-Live technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet."

Users can reserve one of the "free instant streaming discs" now over at this page on the Netflix website. The service itself will go live for US PS3 owners next month.

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