Earlier today, Sony released a firmware update for PS4/PS5. This update was designed to add, adjust, change, or fix Open and Closed parties, new UI and accessibility features (on PS5), Voice Command tests for accounts, and improvements to the PS App and Remote Play experience. The problem, however, is that this PS4/PS5 update appears to created several issues with Sony servers.
Elden Ring, notably, also released an update this morning, and at first, many fans of FromSoft’s latest game thought that its update was preventing them from playing it online. It is quite the timing, for sure. However, many quickly discovered that this issue was occurring across a multitude of games. It is not yet certain how widespread this issue goes, but there have been hundreds of reports across social media since this PS5 update was released. It does not appear to be impacting everyone, but it is affecting a huge number of people.
RELATED: Study Shows Xbox Live Goes Down More Than PSN
As it stands, this new bug/issue is being reported in one of two ways. The first results in a player receiving a “cannot verify PlayStation Plus subscription” when attempting to log into online servers. The other is a statement that the “connection to PlayStation Network failed.” As of this writing, there has been no update from Sony, nor any clear way to work around this issue. It appears to be impact everything from Elden Ring to Destiny 2, and no amount of moving wires/making tech adjustments to changing from wireless/wire has appeared to correct it.
It is an odd issue for sure, as PSN is not technically down. All servers appear to be functional, but this update is preventing players from connecting to PlayStation Network. In other words, it appears to be more of a communication issue than it is an issue with PSN. Nonetheless, this is preventing a ton of people from playing online, and many would like it to be corrected as soon as possible.
For the time being, anyone who has not yet installed the latest PS5 update may be wise to avoid doing so. While this download issue is not impacting everyone, who and why it is impacting the numerous folk affected is unclear. It appears to be at random; for those it does not impact or those who avoid it for the time being, online play appears to still be possible. Hopefully, Sony issues a statement and corrects the issue quickly.
MORE: Horizon Forbidden West: Who Are The Ten?
title: “Psn Is Down Update " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-21” author: “Charla Finwall”
Original story follows.
It appears as though the PlayStation Network, Sony’s online service for its PS4 and PS5 consoles, is down. The PSN problems appear to be widespread, with thousands of people online claiming to have issues with the service. Sony is aware of the problems with PSN and is likely working on a solution. But until Sony manages to fix the ongoing problems with PSN, players won’t be able to use their PS4 or PS5 consoles online.
The services impacted by the current PlayStation Network problems are account management, gaming, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Direct. Essentially, this means that one’s PlayStation console is useless when it comes to anything that needs online connectivity right now. The problems have been going on for at least 20 minutes or so at the time of this writing, but they will hopefully be fixed sooner rather than later.
RELATED: PlayStation is Monitoring the Switch OLED, Could Change Hardware Pricing
This isn’t the first time that PSN has gone down, of course. Like any online service, the PlayStation Network occasionally goes down or users lose access to some of its services. Luckily, Sony is usually pretty quick about getting things fixed, so fans shouldn’t have to wait too long to jump back online.
There have been some instances where PlayStation Network has been down for prolonged periods of time. The infamous PlayStation Network hack saw the services taken down for a whopping 23 days in 2011. And then a few years later, the Lizard Squad attacks saw Christmas 2014 ruined for anyone wanting to play online games. The Lizard Squad attacks weren’t just focused on PlayStation, however, as Xbox’s online services were taken down in that instance as well.
It’s highly unlikely that this latest PSN outage is due to anything as serious as the Lizard Squad attacks, so users shouldn’t have to worry. In fact, there are some online who have reported that their PSN services are already being restored. Others are still having issues, though, so it seems that mileage may vary, but it looks like Sony is getting close to getting PlayStation Network services back up and running like usual.
We will update this post once the PlayStation Network services have been fully restored.
MORE: Now is the Best Time to Play The Last of Us 2
