We have been patient, and now we’re simply fed up.
On 18th May, Disney launched Disney+ in South Africa except, South Africans weren’t getting the full fat experience, but rather the Hotstar version of the service. This means fewer features, not as much content as the full-fat app, and a few oddities.
One such oddity is the fact that there are still no Disney+ apps for PlayStation and Xbox consoles locally. At launch this was something Hypertext noticed and when asked, a spokesperson said we should expect those apps one month after launch.
“Disney+ will be available on gaming consoles approximately one month after launch. The team is prioritising delivering a seamless viewing experience across as many devices as possible and are working quickly to expand our device footprint,” a Disney+ spokesperson told Hypertext.
We’re well over a month since that statement and yet, Xbox and PlayStation consoles are yet to receive an app through which to stream content.
It appears that “quickly” is up for interpretation here. We have asked Disney+ to provide an update and we will share that should the firm respond.
We did contact Disney+ chat support and received the following scripted response.
“We will bring our App on (Playstation/ XBox) soon. However, we do not have an exact date of when will that be done, but we are aware that our development team is working on getting those devices ready for the Disney+ app. Meanwhile, you can enjoy Disney+ on internet-connected desktop browsers, mobile & tablet apps (iOS and Android), as well as Apple TV, Android TV, LG TV, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Google Chromecast,” the support agent said.
While the content on Disney+ is great, we’re not too pleased with how hands off the firm is as regards this particular operation locally. Recently Glitched tested the Disney+ apps and discovered that 4K streaming is nearly impossible.
Beyond that, local representation of the brand is – in our experience – non-existent. Questions are answered with boilerplate responses that say nothing and we’re still waiting for basic things like console apps.
With Netflix floundering and Disney+ making a half-hearted attempt a launch, we really have to start wondering out loud whether streaming needs a rethink.
