PlayStation Network goes back online

Life

Sony has announced that it’s PlayStation Network (PSN), Quriocity, and PC gaming service Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) have begun a phased return to service. The restoration will be on a country by country basis beginning in the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Middle East.

According to s atetemt from the company, he first phase of restored services for these countries and regions will include:

• Sign-in for PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, including the resetting of passwords
• Restoration of online game-play across PS3 and PSP
• Playback rental video content, if within rental period, of PlayStation Network Video Delivery Service on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, for current subscribers, on PS3 and PC
• Access to 3rd party services such as Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.tv
• ‘Friends’ category on PS3, including Friends List, Chat Functionality, Trophy Comparison, etc
• PlayStation Home

PlayStation Network and Qriocity were shut down on 20 April after Sony was notified of a security breach by a third party security provider. After confirming that two attacks on the PSN had been carried out by an unnamed hacker(s) a third attack took place earlier this month, but it has been speculated Sony managed to thwart the would-be assailants.

It still remains unknown if credit card information of the over 110 million combined users of the PSN, Qriosity and SCE have been harvested and passed on to criminals. Isolated reports of credit card fraud have yet to be traced back to the attacks themselves.

“I’d like to send my sincere regret for the inconvenience this incident has caused you, and want to thank you all for the kind patience you’ve shown as we worked through the restoration process,” said Kazuo Hirai, executive deputy president, Sony Corporation.

The company has promised it will be offering customers a ‘welcome back’ package of services and premium content to all registered PlayStation Network and Qriocity account services.

Niall Kitson

Read More: Gamer