Update: The PlayStation Network appears to be coming back online after nearly a day's outage, but there's still no word from Sony on what happened

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Recent updates

Update 2/8/2025, 3:00 PM CT: Some of PC Gamer's PS5-havers are once again able to access PSN, while I can also get to it on my PS4, and we're hearing scattered word to that effect on social media as well. Sony's PSN status page, however, is still reporting outages across all services. Sony has still not explained what caused the outage, but an ill-timed scheduled Twitter post about upgrading your PS5's hard drive on the Ask PlayStation support page has certainly made for a bad look.

Original Story: The PlayStation network has been completely borked for 16 hours and counting at the time of writing, first going offline at 1 AM CET / 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT on February 8. Sony has yet to provide an explanation for the outage, which affects PSN logins and services across all platforms, including PS5, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, and PC.

Sony's only official comment on the matter has been a tweet from the Ask PlayStation support account that reads, "We are aware some users might be currently experiencing issues with PSN," with a link to a network service status page that reports outages in the following services:

Account Management
Gaming and Social
PlayStation Video
PlayStation Store
PlayStation Direct

A community note on the Ask PlayStation tweet points out that it fails to capture the full extent of the outage: "some" users as opposed to, apparently, literally every user. The community note also alleges that this may be the result of a DDoS attack, citing Sony support messages shared elsewhere on social media, but that explanation has yet to be confirmed. A pinned moderator comment on the PlayStation subreddit's megathread on the issue notes that there are a number of users spreading "incorrect service information, rumors, and outright lies" in the absence of a full accounting from Sony.

At the time of writing, I can still access streaming services like Netflix and Hulu on my PS4, but I am logged out of PSN and unable to access updates or other services. This issue is also highlighting other PSN dependencies I wouldn't normally consider. Day one updates and DRM checks introduce extra difficulties when trying to game offline, even if you still purchase physical media. User @graham_brn on Twitter has demonstrated how the PS5 Pro's sold-separately disc drive requires a PSN connection for first time setup with the console, potentially locking you out of your physical library entirely should the drive somehow unpair or need to be replaced.

Sony is understandably in crisis mode at the moment, and this outage has fallen on the weekend to boot, but the company's lack of communication definitely isn't helping the environment of panic, confusion, and misinformation among PlayStation customers. We'll know more as Sony works to resolve the issue and finally provide an explanation, but my mind immediately goes to the 23-day PlayStation Network hack and outage back in 2011. Here's hoping this current crisis isn't anywhere near as severe as that legendary cybersecurity boondoggle.

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Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

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