Sony's Playstation Network is now online in U.S. and Europe

Parts of Sony's Playstation Network (PSN) have finally come back online in certain areas around the world including the U.S. and Europe after hackers were able to break into the network, forcing the company to bring it offline for nearly a month.

The announcement was made by Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai (pictured above), bringing an end to the torment of both Sony, Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable users everywhere that were kept in almost complete silence over when the network would finally be back online. The whole ordeal has been a huge black eye for Sony. The company brought the network down right when two blockbuster titles came out Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat. Both involved a lot of online content, including co-operative and competitive play.

The PSN's downtime has also given other online network operators a golden opportunity to capitalize on the downtime leading many Playstation 3 owners to exchange their consoles for other gaming devices that still have access to an online gaming network. The PSN has around 77 million users and the company's online gaming portal, Station.com, has around 24 million users. That means that more than 100 million users were forcefully taken offline and kept in the dark for nearly a month as to when they would be able to play their games again.

They Playstation Store where PSN users can go to buy games and other pieces of downloadable content is still offline, as are some components of the company's music service Qriocity. But just about everything else, including online gaming and access to third-party services like Netflix and Hulu, are back online.

"The service is being restored in phases and I'm pleased to say that the first phase has now been launched around the world," Hirai said in an announcement on the company's website. "I can't thank you enough for your patience and support during this time we know even the most loyal customers have been frustrated."

Sony will also be offering a "welcome back" package for all Playstation Network users. Hirai didn't give exact details about what would be in the package, but he said that information would appear on the company's site in the next couple of days. The package will likely include a free month's access to the company's premium online service, Playstation Plus, as well as some games or movies, according to a leaked letter that went out to Playstation 3 publishers.

Hirai was quick to note that there's still a chance that hackers could find a new way to break into the network a pretty humbling statement after its network was taken offline for nearly a month. Sony was uncharacteristically quiet throughout the downtime, except to lay indirect blame on hacktivist group Anonymous which typically rallies a group of loosely connected hackers under moral or political banners to take down large companies. Anonymous has routinely denied that it was involved in breaking into and bringing down the PSN.

I wish I could tell you that technology is available to completely protect any company against cyber attack, but unfortunately the threat of cyber crime and data theft will continue to plague networks, companies, government agencies and consumers around the world for some time to come," Hirai said in his announcement.

The PlayStation Network is a critical service that competes with Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service as well as other online gaming services. There are also 948 games now available in the PlayStation Network store, as well as 4,000 pieces of add on content for games. You can find a timeline for the Playstation Network outage and credit card information theft scandal here, courtesy of VentureBeat's gaming guru Dean Takahashi. You can view the full video of Hirai's announcement here.


Extra Tags
PSN BACK UP WITH SONY APPRECIATE GIFT PACKAGE Tokyo Press Conference hack hacked anonymous anonyops compensation law suit lawsuit class action free gift playstation plus system software update custon firmware george hotz geohot jailbreak ps3 iphone PS3 Back Up Welcome Program May error code Server Update Playstation Network

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• psn back up online
• us
• and
• europe
• playstation
• maintenance
• psn
• how to
• fix
• help
• hacked
• hack
• error code
• Anonymous
• Sony
• ps3 online
• psn maintenance
• psn down
• down
• why is psn down
• PSN hacked
• psn maintenance 2011
• ps3 psn error
• playstation network error
• when will psn be back
• psn error help
• how to fix PSN
• playstation online error
• psn hacked
• playstation hack
• Anonymous psn hack
• Anonymous hack ps3
• black hacks psn
• black hacks ps3
• yt:stretch=16:9

[rlarson122]

You look like a combination of mr t and lol wayne

[JayyBlackheart]

@rlarson122 Lol....How the hell?

[alienufoweird]

it's kinda annoying that u guys from USA got at least a restoration map but we don't get anything, not even a comment or email from sony saying that the service is currently being restored :((

[JayyBlackheart]

@alienufoweird Well homie sub to me,and let me be your eyes and ears to let cha know whats happening with Sony,PSN,and anything for that matter if you would like.

[usa3990]

its not black up here it, i mean back

[JayyBlackheart]

@usa3990 Give it time.The servers are rising up.

[mxriderkidextream]

ha ha i have xbox even know this psn network crasing was a while back

[jacksonkids1]

the restoration day was a relief, and when the news of the welcome back package came it made me more excited. for that stuff to be free it was kinda a bargain.

[FCBence007]

PLESE HELP ME IF YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am from Hungary. When PSN is back I have to change my password. They send a link to my email addres. I open the link, then i follow the insturctions but at the end it says: PSN store not avible in you country / legion. So i cant play online too... HELP MEE

[REAVEHEART]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh­hhhhh

look to your face

Looooooooooooool

[Move4Playstation]

@TheUmbrellaCorpX Ok thanks

[TheUmbrellaCorpX]

@Move4Playstation yeah if you got seperate accounts on the Ps3 then you get 4 games, 2 on each console.

[Move4Playstation]

Hey can some 1 answer me this. If someone owns 2 ps3's and due to the 2 free games we get. do they get 4 free games?

[SilentPhenomed]

WAZZUP BLACK GUY!

[SasukeX32]

sub to thegunnshop he brings all the latest news within the gaming community

[OoIm2siikoO]

ppl psn store is nt on wen is it cumin on?