Multiple reports are claiming that the 360’s new Netflix package, a movie and TV streaming service that has launched as part of NXE in the US, has removed a range of movies on offer from Sony Pictures Entertainment subsidiary Columbia Pictures. It is understood that the withdrawal is not a technical issue, but a licensing one.

News of Columbia Pictures’ sudden departure from the 360’s Netflix service broke yesterday as NXE users in the US quickly discovered that all the films unavailable for the service belong to the same picture company. Columbia Pictures’ movies, it was discovered, were still available on the Mac and PC’s Netflix streaming services.

In an email sent to MTV Multiplayer, Netflix VP of corporate communications Steve Swasey explained that “in the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly.”

It is still uncertain why these movies were removed and which company instigated the removal. Despite the disappearance of Columbia Pictures" content, movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment are still currently available for the service.