[UPDATE: one hour after the reported issues, Sony’s PSN status page has indicated the network is down. Original story follows.]
Earlier today, Sony released a firmware update for PS4/PS5. This update was designed to add, adjust, change, or fix Open and Closed parties, new UI and accessibility features (on PS5), Voice Command tests for accounts, and improvements to the PS App and Remote Play experience. The problem, however, is that this PS4/PS5 update appears to created several issues with Sony servers.
Elden Ring, notably, also released an update this morning, and at first, many fans of FromSoft’s latest game thought that its update was preventing them from playing it online. It is quite the timing, for sure. However, many quickly discovered that this issue was occurring across a multitude of games. It is not yet certain how widespread this issue goes, but there have been hundreds of reports across social media since this PS5 update was released. It does not appear to be impacting everyone, but it is affecting a huge number of people.
As it stands, this new bug/issue is being reported in one of two ways. The first results in a player receiving a “cannot verify PlayStation Plus subscription” when attempting to log into online servers. The other is a statement that the “connection to PlayStation Network failed.” As of this writing, there has been no update from Sony, nor any clear way to work around this issue. It appears to be impact everything from Elden Ring to Destiny 2, and no amount of moving wires/making tech adjustments to changing from wireless/wire has appeared to correct it.
It is an odd issue for sure, as PSN is not technically down. All servers appear to be functional, but this update is preventing players from connecting to PlayStation Network. In other words, it appears to be more of a communication issue than it is an issue with PSN. Nonetheless, this is preventing a ton of people from playing online, and many would like it to be corrected as soon as possible.
For the time being, anyone who has not yet installed the latest PS5 update may be wise to avoid doing so. While this download issue is not impacting everyone, who and why it is impacting the numerous folk affected is unclear. It appears to be at random; for those it does not impact or those who avoid it for the time being, online play appears to still be possible. Hopefully, Sony issues a statement and corrects the issue quickly.
