Mr Viral
After more than 12 hours, the PlayStation Network shows no signs of returning as fans start to make their feelings known to Sony and ask for a ‘welcome back package’15:25, 08 Feb 2025Updated 21:38, 08 Feb 2025
It could be a while, folks(Image: EMPICS Entertainment)PlayStation owners, we wish we had better news, but if you’re a PS Plus subscriber looking to play anything today you’re better off going for a walk with the dog, doing the weekly shop, or just about anything else.
As we pointed out earlier, we were online when things began, but it seems to have gotten worse in the hours that followed overnight UK time as even Sony’s video platform has gone.
That’s led to some speculation the outage was caused by a ‘hack’ of some description, not helped by Sony staying relatively silent outside of acknowledging there is some kind of issue. Fans have started making their voices heard, too, and some are demanding compensation for the outage.
PlayStation Network is still down, and fans aren’t happyContent cannot be displayed without consentIn response to the Ask PlayStation account’s lone post on X (formerly Twitter) about the incident, one angry gamer said “Yeah, been down since 6 pm, so 5 hours now… sucks I CAN’T PLAY ANY OFFLINE GAMES I OWN cuz my PS5 can’t verify I own it EVERY TIME I LOG IN instead of, you know, just SAVING THAT INFO TO THE SYSTEM. Sure would make this downtime an almost non-issue.”
That was ten hours ago, so we hope they found something else to do.
The post has a ‘Community Note’ pointing out that it’s not some PlayStation users, but all of them.
Another simply said “Imagine that. 2011 again?” pointing to the infamous 2011 PSN outage that shook the games industry and customers’ faith in PlayStation.
A data breach saw users’ payment details leak, exposing data for over 77 million PSN users including payment information.
The entire PlayStation network was down for 23 days, and the incident reportedly cost Sony more than $170 million in costs.
Sony issued a series of free games as a ‘welcome back’ bundle, but while we’re likely still some time away from that kind of “make good” approach, it hasn’t stopped some cheeky gamers from asking.
“We’ll forgive and forget if you bring back PS Home and a welcome-back package like this,” one player said.
Over on Reddit, the PlayStation fanbase joked that they’re assembling like the Avengers at the end of Endgame, but frustration is growing as they wonder if it’s another hack.
Perhaps most damaging for Sony is that Google Trend data shows a lot of people are searching for the PS5’s rival, the Xbox Series X. Could this force people to jump ship, or at least move to owning two systems?
All we know so far about latest PSN outageContent cannot be displayed without consentSony’s network was running as normal around 10:30 pm last night (Friday, February 7) because this writer was able to complete a purchase before settling in to play Destiny.
When I snapped a screenshot from the game, I was unable to share it at 11:30 pm, while EA’s servers were uncontactable in EA FC 25, too. The above post on X (formerly Twitter) was shared seemingly as the first complaints about PSN were coming in.
For more on all things PlayStation, check out how the storefront accidentally leaked the release date for the Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake. Looking for things to play while PSN is down? Check out our list of games launching in February across Switch, Xbox, and PC.
Once it is back, there are free PS Plus games to download, too.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings