Player won't run at start

[Psirus]

ALL software version info

Software Version Info

panel: 1.7.1
python: 3.13.2
OS: MacOSX 15.4.1
Browser: Firefox 139

Description of expected behavior and the observed behavior

I'm trying to have a Player widget running from the start. Neither setting direction=1 during creation, or calling player.play() afterwards starts the player.

Complete, minimal, self-contained example code that reproduces the issue

import panel as pn

player = pn.widgets.Player(
    name='Autoplay Player',
    start=0,
    end=100,
    value=0,
    loop_policy='loop',
    interval=100,
    direction=1
)
player.play()

player.servable()

There are no errors on the "panel serve ..." output or the browser console.