Update | The Sony PlayStation Network still down after 18+ hours, affecting single and multiplayer games

February 8, 2025 5:20 PM EST update: Slight edits to the article to reflect that the outage lasted for over 18 hours rather than 16+ hours.

Console owners are being reminded of how dependent gaming is on online networks. The Sony PlayStation Network is suffering from a major outage that began shortly after 6 p.m. EST Friday night. Sony has acknowledged issues that cripple multiplayer games and some single-player titles. While there are sporadic reports of restored service, most gamers are in limbo more than 18 hours after problems began.

Downdetector is a useful resource that tracks how long websites and services have been offline. At 6:38 PM EST on Friday, the site registered over 68,000 reports confirming that the PlayStation Network was down. That's close to peak usage time for the network when countless players browse the PS Store or play internet-dependent games. Outages at Downdetector fell off in the middle of the night but have climbed again as players woke up.

A few hours after the PlayStation Network went offline, Sony's official North American support X account posted an update. Without any further details, readers were linked to the PlayStation Network status page. On Reddit, gamers were provided with more information, with the latest message saying some users were able to connect to the service. However, it appears the network is still down for most gamers.

Adding to gamers' frustration, many single-player titles rely on the PlayStation Network. Other games like Gran Turismo 7 restrict what modes are available when in offline mode. The situation is especially disappointing for Monster Hunter Wilds players since its second open beta ends Sunday night.

Social media is full of disgruntled posters who are demanding partial refunds for PlayStation Network subscriptions. For now, gamers are left in the dark, but many speculate that the outage is due to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. Eventually, as when the service was offline for 23 days in 2011, Sony should provide some explanation.