Sony has confirmed that its Sony Network Entertainment International division will fully restore all PlayStation Network services in the Americas, Europe/PAL territories and Asia -- excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea -- by the end of this week.
The announcement is essentially an extension of Sony's original deadline to have PSN fully restored by the end of May, which ends today.
According to statement from Sony, "The company implemented considerable security enhancements to the network infrastructure, as well as conducted testing of the payment process and commerce functions."
The first phase of PlayStation Network and Qriocity restoration, following a
hack-related outage in April, began on May 15 in the Americas and Europe/PAL territories, followed by Japan and Asian countries and regions on May 28, when the company brought partial services back online.
With this partial restoration users were able to access some of PSN's services such as online gameplay, account management, friend lists and chat functionality.
The full restoration of PlayStation Network as well as part of services to become available on Qriocity will include:
- Full functionality on PlayStation Store
- In-game commerce
- Ability to redeem vouchers and codes
- Full functionality on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP, and compatible PCs
"We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love," said Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President of Sony Corporation. "We appreciate the patience and support shown during this time."
