Turns out NFL Game Pass has been a damp squib for fans in Europe.
Last month, an “enhanced” Game Pass product was announced, allowing European customers to livestream NFL games and access exclusive content. But the app that fans are encouraged to use to access games has experienced technical difficulties and has also been rocked by a scandal of sorts created by its own developer.
Tech issues with the app, created by deltatre, reportedly made it hard for subscribers to watch games. Issues had been occurring throughout the season, but the inability of fans to watch numerous weeks worth of games made Game Pass Europe take notice.
We apologise for the issues caused earlier, we have now fixed this and the games should be accessible.
— NFL Game Pass Europe (@NFLGamePassEU) September 24, 2017
We have been working with the distribution network and can confirm it has now been fixed. We apologise for any inconvenience caused (3/3)
— NFL Game Pass Europe (@NFLGamePassEU) October 23, 2017
Because of the technical problems, subscribers were refunded 20 percent of the original 140-pound annual cost. According to an email sent to subscribers by Game Pass and published by The Independent, individual subscribers would be issued the partial refund unconditionally, even if they experienced no issues.
Meanwhile, deltatre had its own issues to deal with. According to The Independent, in an attempt to beef up the public perception of their app, deltatre loaded the app’s description in the App Store and Google Play Store with positive reviews such as “New app works great! Lots of features” and “Great to see a fantastic UX on this app with super navigation.”
Potential customers shouldn’t be deceived, though: Most users gave the app one star in each app store. Deltatre took over as developer of the NFL Game Pass app over the summer, and since then, problems have ensued. Not only has streaming been difficult or impossible, but other features — search, downloading condensed games, and “Spoiler Mode,” among others — haven’t worked as intended or have been removed completely, The Independent reported.
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The fake review scandal is further evidenced by an internal email The Independent obtained from deltatre’s international markets managing director instructing staff to post fake reviews using their own names. Deltatre responded in a statement to The Independent that read, in part, “Deltatre apologises for the posting of positive reviews of its Game Pass Europe App.
“We have taken swift action to remove the limited number of these reviews. We have also taken measures to improve our internal processes and increased oversight to ensure this does not happen again.”