Sony’s PlayStation network outage: What caused the worldwide disruption in PSN services

In a major disruption, Sony’s PlayStation Network (PSN) was down for several hours today. Gamers reported encountering errors when attempting to load the system. The outage impacted multiple consoles, including the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PS Vita, and even older devices like the PlayStation 3.

Downdetector, a service that tracks outages, saw a spike in reports around 6 AM IST. Sony Interactive Entertainment has not released a statement on the issue yet, but the PlayStation Network status page initially confirmed that the services weren’t working.

Earlier, the official PSN Service Status page stated, “You might have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.” The status page further confirmed that several services, including account management, gaming, social features, and the PlayStation Store, were currently experiencing issues across all platforms.

Also Read: Major PlayStation network outage disrupts services across multiple Sony consoles; Here’s what we know

The outage disrupted access to both multiplayer and single-player games that require online connectivity. Users on consoles like the PS5, PS4, PS Vita, and PS3 reported being unable to launch games or apps due to errors like “PS5 error Code WS-116522-7,” which is linked to a system software update failure. While offline games that didn’t require a connection still worked, those relying on online services were halted.

Why is PlayStation Network Down: Reason

Sony has yet to provide details regarding the cause of the outage or an estimated time for resolution. Interestingly, this network issue occurred just hours after Sony resolved a separate bug affecting PS5 home screen artwork, although it’s unclear if the two incidents are related.Meanwhile, a Twitter user claimed that PSN servers might have been hacked.

Notably, in 2011, PSN was down for 23 days following a significant security breach. During that incident, Sony compensated users with free game titles and 30 days of PlayStation Plus access.

Read More: PlayStation Outage: What if it’s down for 23 days like in 2011?

Gamers are advised to monitor Sony’s updates as the company works to resolve the disruption. For now, the only official statement is, “We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”