Sony's PlayStation Network outage: Why is the PSN network down?

PlayStation users are experiencing a widespread outage affecting Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN). Players are reporting errors when attempting to load the system affecting multiple consoles such as PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PS Vita and even older devices such as the PlayStation 3.

Downdetector, a service that tracks outages, saw a spike in reports around 6 am (IST), confirming the issue.

The PSN service's official status page states: “You may have difficulty launching games, apps, or network features. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.” The status page also confirms that several services, including account management, games, social features and PlayStation Store, are currently experiencing issues across all platforms.

Also read: Major PlayStation Network Outage Disrupts Services on Multiple Sony Consoles; Here's what we know

The outage disrupted access to multiplayer and single-player games that require an online connection. Users of consoles such as PS5, PS4, PS Vita, and PS3 reported that they were unable to launch games or apps due to errors such as “PS5 error code WS-116522-7,” which is related to system software update failure. While offline games that don't require a connection continued to work, games that relied on online services were discontinued.

Why is the PlayStation Network down: Reason

Sony has not yet provided any information about the cause of the outage or the estimated time to fix it. Interestingly, this network issue occurred just hours after Sony fixed a separate bug that affected PS5 home screen graphics, although it's unclear whether the two incidents are related. Meanwhile, a Twitter user claimed that PSN servers may have been hacked.

Notably, in 2011, PSN was unavailable for 23 days due to a major security breach. During this incident, Sony compensated users with free game titles and 30 days of PlayStation Plus access.

Read more: PlayStation Outage: What if the PlayStation was unavailable for 23 days like it was in 2011?

Players are advised to keep an eye on Sony's updates as the company works to resolve the glitch. The only official statement for now is: “We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”