It's been less than a week, and HBO is already running into trouble on the PlayStation 4.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the PlayStation 4 version of HBO Go would finally make its debut. People were understandably excited; the PlayStation was released over a year ago, and the app is only just making its way to the console. Unfortunately, any excitement was short-lived...for Comcast customers, at least.
As it stands, HBO Go requires a cable subscription to use: the app asks users to sign in and then register the device they're using. However, for Comcast customers, the app simply doesn't work.
At first glance, it may sound like HBO Go is simply having some more technical trouble - it's not the first time the streaming service has encountered such difficulties, as each new Game of Thrones episode tends to crash the app. However, these issues haven't affected customers from other providers, such as Time Warner Cable or Verizon: this is strictly a Comcast problem, and anyone who's ever dealt with the company's customer service knows how serious that can be.
Coincidentally, the PlayStation 3 version of the app was plagued with the same issues: Comcast customers simply could not access the service. Sadly enough, the only real response came from a Comcast customer support employee posting on the cable provider's support forums:
"HBO Go availability on PS3 (and some other devices) are business decisions and deal with business terms that have not yet been agreed to between the parties. Thanks for your continued patience."
Granted, that was posted back in 2012, but it seems as if the policy hasn't changed much at all. With any luck, Comcast will fix its policy soon - otherwise, there are going to be a lot of new HBO Now subscribers and a lot less Comcast subscribers come April...
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