Update: All services are currently listed as up and running, which is a good sign.
This morning, it seemed like the PlayStation Network's server problems from yesterday had largely been resolved. The PSN Status page was reading all green, and from what I could tell chatter on social media had receded to more or less usual levels. A few hours ago, however, things appeared to start back up again. PSN appears to be down for many once again, and the PlayStation Network status page is once again listing problems with Gaming and Social features, making it so some players aren't able to play at all. Here's what PlayStation support had to say on Twitter:
We're aware that users are having issues accessing some features on PSN. Thanks for your patience as we investigate. More Info: https://t.co/NJX2xGusZM
— Ask PlayStation (@AskPlayStation) July 13, 2018
Not all that specific, but intermittent problems over the course of 24 hours, including what appears to be a full outage for many people, is bad news. It's particularly bad timing because Fortnite: Battle Royale just released its big Season 5 update yesterday, and it has a way of generating a lot of hype as one of the biggest games on the planet. Fortnite had its own server problems last night, but developer Epic Games had them resolved in a few hours.
According to the status page, these issues are limited to the PS4, though that's little comfort considering it's by far Sony's biggest platform. Consoles today are more or less always-online, despite some uproar over the idea towards the beginning of the generation. That means that not only are multiplayer games affected by outages, a lot of single-player games could wind up missing key features or even being unplayable, as well. Most multiplayer games also require players to buy a yearly PSN+ subscription, and that price puts extra pressure on these services to stay up. Social media is...not happy.
We'll keep you posted as the situation develops, but the weekend is coming and plenty of people are getting off of work or out of school, ready to get in on some Fortnite. Hopefully, PS4 users will be able to join them soon enough.
