With over 50 million PS5 owners, combined with the vast user base of PS4, PS3, and PSV, Sony boasts approximately 120 million users on the PlayStation Network (PSN).  These users rely on PSN for everything from online gameplay to purchasing and accessing their games.  However, a significant outage has left the network crippled for over 24 hours, leaving millions of players unable to connect.

Reports of the global PSN disruption surfaced yesterday, prompting a swift response from Sony acknowledging the issue and promising an investigation. However, no official updates have been provided since.

According to the PlayStation status page, crucial services like account management, the PlayStation Store, and online gaming functionality have been affected. In essence, virtually all online features across PS4 and PS5 consoles are impacted.

Many users report losing access to their digitally purchased games due to the lack of online connection.  This disruption fuels the ongoing debate about the importance of physical media in an increasingly digital world and serves as a potential cautionary tale for the all-digital Xbox ecosystem.

Typically, gamers anticipate disruptions to multiplayer experiences and games requiring a persistent internet connection during server outages.  However, reports indicate that even single-player digital titles are affected by the current PSN downtime, as modern PlayStation consoles require online license verification.

Attempting to launch digital games on the PS5, even single-player titles such as Metaphor: ReFantazio and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, results in an error message: "Unable to use this content. Cannot connect to the server to verify your license."

Adding to the peculiarity of the situation, some users report being unable to access their disc drives on all-digital PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro consoles.  This implies that even physical game libraries become inaccessible during these outages. One player lamented, "This is why true physical media and disc drive access remain critical."

Historically, the PSN has experienced two major outages far more severe than the current situation.  The 2011 hacking incident forced a 23-day shutdown and compromised the data of over 77 million users.  In 2014, a DDoS attack by the Lizard Squad brought the network down for three days.  Sony issued an official statement about five days after the 2011 incident and responded within the day during the 2014 attack.  Following the 2011 breach, Sony apologized and offered free games as compensation. Fans hope the current situation won't escalate to such a scale.

Fortunately, according to the former CEO of SIE, the anticipated PS6 is expected to retain a disc drive and support physical media.