The PlayStation Network went down on Friday, making it impossible for gamers to access the PlayStation Store and buy, play, or download PS5 games they either own or are available as part of a subscription.
The weekend outage comes during a month Sony announced it is ceasing the production of physical Blu-ray discs for new games, starting in January 2028? Today shows the folly in such a decision and we’re sure the irony is not lost on gamers suffering during today’s outage.
“Can’t play digital games till you fix it. Yet I can put my disc in and play. The all digital future looks great,” wrote affected user David Nunn on X.
A message on the PlayStation Status website as of 1:24pm ET (6:24pm BST) says that “all services are experiencing issues”. Areas affected include account management, gaming and social, PlayStation Video and the PlayStation Store. The issues affect all platforms.
Reports from Game Informer and others say the outage has now gone beyond six hours and comes at a bad time for the developers of the new PS5-exclusive title Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls X. That game came out today. Sorry, lads.
During this time, gamers with titles on physical disc can still pop their games into a console with a drive and play, although the online features like multiplayer won’t be available. Even that’s not foolproof though with some games requiring an online check to ensure the license is legit. Either way, it’s another one for the ‘modern gaming ain’t what it used to be’ pile.
Personally, I was a big fan of the OG PlayStation where the disc went in, you played it without epic loading times and massive software updates, and the need for always-on connectivity. Sony looks set to bury the last vestiges of the first PlayStation era when it ditches discs. And then when the PSN goes down our PS5 and PS6 consoles – which we probably won’t be able to even buy for under $1,000 – are essentially expensive bricks.
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