After almost 19 hours, the PlayStation Network (PSN) is slowly coming back. It is being restored in stages, with some players on the East Coast able to play again. However, some errors still pop up, and online gaming may not be fully stable yet. Even so, the network is starting to work again, and players can get back to gaming.

PlayStation’s Poor Communication

One big issue during this outage was PlayStation’s lack of updates. Even though the network was down for nearly a full day, they didn’t share much information. Instead, their social media accounts posted unrelated scheduled tweets, like one about adding an M2 SSD to a PS5. Many players expected regular updates, but PlayStation gave very little information.

This was the longest PlayStation Network outage since 2011 when PlayStation gave free games as compensation. This time, no one expects them to give anything for free. In fact, some believe they will raise PlayStation Plus prices by the end of the year instead.

This is also the second big outage in six months, making players worry about future problems. Many believe PlayStation should give updates at least every hour when these issues happen. Since people pay for PlayStation Plus, they expect better service.

Was It a Cyberattack?

Some think this outage might have been caused by a cyberattack. Tom Warren from The Verge pointed out that Microsoft stopped a big DDoS attack on Xbox over the holidays. Maybe PlayStation faced something similar, but Sony has not confirmed anything. The long downtime suggests this wasn’t planned maintenance, as that usually happens late at night when fewer people are gaming.

Maintenance wouldn’t last 19 hours or start during peak gaming time. This happened on a weekend when many people were off work and ready to play. If it was an attack, it may have been done on purpose to cause the most disruption. Since PlayStation has not explained what happened, players are left guessing.

The Problem With Offline Play (PlayStation Network Ouatge)

Another issue during the outage was that some people couldn’t play their digital games offline. Many saw messages like, “Cannot use this content” or “Cannot connect to the server to verify your license.” This was frustrating for those who had bought single-player games but couldn’t play them.

This problem comes from PlayStation’s “Console Sharing and Offline Play” setting. When setting up a PS5, players can turn this on to play digital games without the internet. However, it only works on one console at a time. If a player skipped enabling it, they were locked out of their games when PSN went down.

Game sharing also made things worse. Many players share their digital game libraries with friends, which needs an online check to work. If someone had their primary console set up for a friend, they couldn’t access their own games. Some didn’t realize this, leading to confusion.

Even with offline play enabled, licenses must be checked online now and then. If a console hadn’t been connected for a while, the player might not have been able to use their games. This raises a bigger problem with digital games—if online checks fail, players lose access to their purchases.

What PlayStation Needs to Improve

The PlayStation Network is coming back, but this outage showed some major problems. PlayStation needs to be clearer about what’s happening and communicate with players better. If this was an attack, they should at least say so. Since people pay for PlayStation Plus, they deserve better information.

Players should also understand how the “Console Sharing and Offline Play” setting works. It can help avoid problems when PSN goes down. PlayStation may not offer anything to make up for this outage, but they should at least be more open with their paying customers in the future.