The PS5 is home to over 50 million gamers, and when combined with PS4 users, Sony boasts around 120 million users across PSN. The PlayStation Network unlocks access to thousands of games, millions of online gaming sessions, and digital purchases of all types for these 120 million users.

Unfortunately, users have been less than pleased with Sony’s service recently. According to reports flooding the internet, PSN has been down for a whopping 18 hours.

Why it matters: Online gaming is practically compulsory today due to the popularity of multiplayer titles and the prevalence of online-only elements in single-player titles. PSN StatusPSN Status via Sony
Reports regarding PSN’s outage initially began appearing yesterday. Sony was also quick to respond and noted that it would investigate the matter, but no official statement has been made since then.

As per the PlayStation status page, services like account management, PlayStation Store, gaming, and more are impacted. Effectively, everything across PS4 and PS5 consoles has been affected.

Many users have even reported losing access to digital games due to the lack of online connectivity. In fact, the whole situation has led to discussions regarding the importance of physical media in such situations.

Fortunately, the PS6 is expected to retain a disc drive and support physical media. PSN Down For 18 Hours

PlayStation Fans On Social Media Are Panicking Amid The Ongoing Outage | Image via X
The entire situation has led to some fans reminiscing about the infamous PSN outage of 2011. For the unaware, this year saw the PlayStation Network going down for nearly a full month after it was hacked.

Sony was even forced to apologize after the matter was sorted, and the gaming giant later offered free games as compensation. Fans hope that the current situation doesn’t turn out to be nearly as bad.