PlayStation Network (PSN) has been experiencing a prolonged outage that began late Friday evening, leaving thousands of gamers unable to access online services. The disruption has affected key functions, including account management, multiplayer gaming, PlayStation Video, and the PlayStation Store.
According to Sony’s PSN status page, all major services are facing issues. As a result, popular online games such as Fortnite, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and Marvel Rivals have become unplayable. Even single-player titles requiring license verification have been impacted, preventing users from accessing their purchased games.
Widespread Reports of Issues
The outage was first reported shortly before midnight on Friday, with DownDetector, a website that tracks service disruptions, registering more than 71,000 user complaints. PlayStation acknowledged the issue on its support page, assuring users that the company was working to restore services as soon as possible.
Despite these assurances, players across the globe continue to report difficulties accessing their games. PlayStation’s official social media channels have been flooded with complaints from frustrated users.
Jeff Thigpen, a 48-year-old gamer from Dallas, Texas, said he had been unable to connect to PSN for over 10 hours.
“At my job, I have an hourly break, and I like to play on my PlayStation Portal,” he told the BBC, referring to Sony’s handheld streaming device. “Tonight, I tried and was unable to play any of the games I purchased. Paying a monthly fee for their service is one thing, but not being able to access games I already own is beyond frustrating.”
Bad Timing for the Gaming Community
The timing of the outage has only added to the frustration, as this weekend is a particularly important one for gamers.
Connor Clarke, who runs the Sheffield Games Collective, noted that the disruption coincides with major gaming events, including a free beta launch for Monster Hunter Wilds and a highly anticipated double XP weekend for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
“This is doubly frustrating because it’s an eventful weekend for the gaming community,” Clarke said. “I imagine there are thousands, if not millions, of gamers worldwide who are extremely frustrated that they can’t play right now.”
Clarke added that while PSN outages are not uncommon, they usually last only a few hours.
“This one has been going on for over 12 hours,” he said. “I can’t play multiplayer, and more frustratingly, I can’t even access my downloaded single-player games because PlayStation says it can’t verify my licenses.”
Sony Yet to Provide an Explanation
As of now, Sony has not provided a detailed explanation for the outage or an estimated timeline for restoration. BBC News has reached out to both PlayStation and Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard for comment.
With no immediate resolution in sight, gamers around the world remain in limbo, eagerly waiting for PlayStation Network to come back online.
