14 DAY TRIAL // Sony has confirmed that its PlayStation Network online service will be down for maintenance later today, both in North America and Europe, so many features, like password reset or PlayStation Store access, won't be available.
Sony was severely affected by hackers earlier this year, forcing it to take down and rebuild its PlayStation Network, but, since then, the online service has been running smoothly, offering PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable users a great experience.
The company has now announced that the PSN is going to be taken down today, August 11, for scheduled maintenance, so fans shouldn't worry about not being able to access the online service or if the experience is a bit slower than usual.
"PlayStation Network is scheduled to undergo routine maintenance tomorrow, August 11th, from about 8am until approximately 7pm Pacific Time," said Sony Computer Entertainment America senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold. "During this time, registration and Account Management will be inaccessible, including the password reset process.
"While some users may experience difficulty signing into PSN and the PlayStation Store, the majority of users will be able to play online as well as sign in to external sites that require PSN authentication."
If players want to make sure that their online multiplayer experience won't be disturbed, Sony recommends they sign into the PlayStation Network before the planned maintenance starts. Offline, single-player games won't be disturbed by this downtime, while trophies can still be earned and they'll be synched online when the PSN is back.
In Europe, the maintenance starts at 4pm GMT and will last until 2am, on Friday, August 12.
Sony has just deployed a brand new firmware for the PlayStation 3 home console, taking it to version 3.70, and adding quite a few new features, most of them, however, being available just for subscribers of the PlayStation Plus program.