The BBC has announced that its iPlayer streaming service is now available on Sony’s flagship gaming platform, the PlayStation 5. The broadcaster said PS5 owners can download the BBC iPlayer app by going to the Media tab on the PS5 home screen and selecting BBC iPlayer from the All Apps section. Doing this will add iPlayer to the apps library and make it available quickly via the PlayStation home screen.
Commenting on the launch, Neil Hall, Head of Product, BBC iPlayer, said:
“PS5 users will be able to watch all the best shows from the BBC, including Showtrial, gripping new drama from the makers of Vigil and Stephen Merchant’s smash hit new comedy The Outlaws, featuring an A-list cast including Christopher Walken. They can also enjoy the full boxset of Doctor Who – as this special series Doctor Who: Flux reaches its thrilling conclusion this Sunday, plus they can get back to nature with Sir David Attenborough’s The Mating Game, which will be available to watch on PS5 in spectacular Ultra HD, assuming their TV is UHD-capable.”
If you don’t keep tabs on all the TV-related jargon, the Ultra HD support that comes with iPlayer is synonymous with 4K. If you have a modern TV, there’s a good chance it will support 4K so you’ll be able to get a good picture if you use iPlayer on your PS5.
While it’s great to see iPlayer on the PlayStation 5, it’s a little bit of a shame that it has taken a year since the console’s launch for BBC to launch its app. It seems the Xbox Series X|S was a bigger priority for BBC as the app launched last December on those consoles.