The PlayStation Network went down and back up again in a matter of about an hour. Reports flooded the internet from around the world that PSN was down, as users were apparently unable to enjoy services such as gaming, account management, music, PlayStation Now, and more.
Services and aspects of the PlayStation Network experienced major issues, causing PSN to trend on Twitter for all the wrong reasons. Whether it be online purchases, PlayStation Direct, PlayStation Music, or simply playing online, the network shut down entirely. Interestingly, PlayStation Video seemed to be the only service that survived the hit. Thankfully, regardless of the reasoning, PSN seems to be up and running again.
The biggest and most noticeable issue was simply on the gaming and social side as PlayStation users were unable to enjoy online titles such as the very popular Call of Duty: Warzone, for example. The PSN Service Status site indicated that gaming and social services were down, along with every other service (other than PlayStation Video). It is likely that the majority of PSN users first realized that the service was done after being kicked out of an online game, which of course is never a fun experience. The PSN Service Status site does now indicate that everything is up and running properly.
Levity is often the best way to counter annoyances such as this, and the internet is a place filled with comedy. The PS5 is no stranger to memes, so as PSN was down, many took to Twitter to poke fun at the situation as waited for the service to come back online.
Whenever there is a massive PSN outage, many PlayStation users are reminded of the PSN outage of 2011. That unfortunate series of events lasted 23 days and resulted in 77 million accounts being compromised. Of course, this situation resolved itself much quicker, and one would hope that no accounts were compromised.
PSN is very important to the success of PlayStation. Recently, one of the PlayStation Online Services leaders stepped down from Sony, and filling those shoes will be important for the company. This outage is of course coincidence with that announcement. There does not yet seem to be a reason as to why the service went down in the first place, but technology can be tricky. Outages are going to happen from time to time, and whenever they do occur, there will be a bit of online outrage. Thankfully, the service is back up and running in just about an hour.