Netflix on Xbox 360 not streaming Sony films... coincidence?

Xbox 360 users are getting a much anticipated update to the dashboard today, bringing among other things Netflix support, but it appears that the streaming service won't have (at least for now) quite as many films available as initially planned. Specifically, Netflix has stopped users from streaming movies distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The restriction only applies to Xbox 360 users – PC, Mac and other Netflix enabled devices can still stream Sony films. While this may seem like a cheap move on Sony’s part to try and spoil the day for Microsoft, Netflix claims this is simply a matter of licensing, and that a number of Sony-owned properties are still available for streaming.

Whether this was truly just bad timing and the license just coincidentally expired as Microsoft was adding Netflix support, remains anyone’s guess. In any case, there is no sense for Sony to block their content on the long run so hopefully they can resolve this issue soon.