Sony wants to make up for PSN outage, offers discounts, PS+ subscription extension

[Himanshu Arora]

In an effort to make up for the recent PlayStation Network outage, Sony will be offering all PlayStation Plus members a five-day extension on their memberships. Terming it as an "appreciation for your patience," the company said the extension will be available to all those who had an active membership or free trial on December 25th.

Sony said that if your membership or trial ends before the extension is available, you'll still be eligible for it. The extension will be automatically applied.

In addition, Sony will offer a 10 percent discount code good for a one-time discount off a total cart purchase in the PlayStation Store. You can use it toward content available on the PS Store, including games, season passes, add-ons, TV series, or movies.

Like the membership extension, there's no set date yet on when the discount will be made available though it's expected to happen sometime this month.

Both, The PlayStation Network and Microsoft's Xbox Live were targeted with a malicious distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on Christmas Eve. A hacker group named Lizard Squad, that had pledged to take down the services on Christmas Day, took credit for the attack which lasted for about three days.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59273-sony-wants-make-up-psn-outage-offers-discounts.html

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

Honestly, many PS4 users are just angry at the lack of Sony's ability to resolve their issues. If they had been hacked for the first time, maybe this extension would seem more reasonable. But Sony has been hacked numerous times in the past and still remain vulnerable as they dedicate limited resources to the security of their systems. I think a 1-2 months of extended membership would be a more acceptable gift for PSN users.

 

[davislane1]

Honestly, many PS4 users are just angry at the lack of Sony's ability to resolve their issues. If they had been hacked for the first time, maybe this extension would seem more reasonable. But Sony has been hacked numerous times in the past and still remain vulnerable as they dedicate limited resources to the security of their systems. I think a 1-2 months of extended membership would be a more acceptable gift for PSN users.

Considering the trouble their users have experienced over the past four years, I'd say this package doesn't score them much in the PR department. The extension for PS+ should be at least 3 months and the one-time discount should be at least 50%. As is, the whole move comes off as a technicality rather than a genuine effort to restore customer relations.

 

[risc32]

Not sure if you know this, but psn wasn't hacked, it was a ddos attack. And they hit microsoft also. they even claim that it was a good bit harder to knock out psn than it was to take down xbox live. But I understand the frustration.

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

Not sure if you know this, but psn wasn't hacked, it was a ddos attack. And they hit microsoft also. they even claim that it was a good bit harder to knock out psn than it was to take down xbox live. But I understand the frustration.

I know it was a DDOS but when a group DDOS's a company, their information can become vulnerable. While they didn't steal any information this time, it just shows that even after receiving more money from PSN subscriptions and having the highest selling console, they still haven't worked on putting money into the security of their systems (whether it be their data servers or their PSN servers). They've just been using the money to pay off dying/dead projects.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Lets see if I get this straight, a company of which you are buying into has just gone through a slight nightmare and have decided to give paying customers discounts for their outage. And here everyone stands demanding to have an even greater discount furthering the companies nightmare. I could understand this, if it wasn't an outside source that took Sony down. But we all know this was a result of an outside attack. Have mercy and continue paying in an effort to help recover. Demanding a greater discount is borderline to the same mentality of those who did the attack.

I highly doubt any one of us could have prevented such an attack. And even if we could we are probably just as arrogant, suggesting lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. And all of us are probably just as guilty of cutting corners as the next guy.

I guess the thing that disturbs me the most is all the hatred toward Sony, because no one has a face to blame for the initial attack. That's right blame the middle guy, and take advantage of the attack! Therefor giving incentive for further attacks in the future.

 

[davislane1]

Lets see if I get this straight, a company of which you are buying into has just gone through a slight nightmare and have decided to give paying customers discounts for their outage. And here everyone stands demanding to have an even greater discount furthering the companies nightmare. I could understand this, if it wasn't an outside source that took Sony down. But we all know this was a result of an outside attack. Have mercy and continue paying in an effort to help recover. Demanding a greater discount is borderline to the same mentality of those who did the attack.

I highly doubt any one of us could have prevented such an attack. And even if we could we are probably just as arrogant, suggesting lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. And all of us are probably just as guilty of cutting corners as the next guy.

I guess the thing that disturbs me the most is all the hatred toward Sony, because no one has a face to blame for the initial attack. That's right blame the middle guy, and take advantage of the attack! Therefor giving incentive for further attacks in the future.

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that most consumers are reasonably well informed about the products and services they buy - they aren't. When the average customer strolls into their retailer of choice, the first thing they are going to do when looking at the PS4 and PS+ is think about Sony. Specifically, the chatter they heard about the PSN data breach some while back, the most recent corporate data breach, and all the complaints they heard from their kids and neighbors about PSN not working on Christmas.

Ironic as it seems to point this out to you of all people, multinational corporations don't exactly carry the sympathies of the public these days. Regardless of the technical and financial realities, the inconvenience package they are offering won't do much to restore their image in the eyes of the general public: it seems like an obligatory move rather than a sincere gesture. Perception being everything in marketing, this doesn't do much to help Sony at all. In fact, they look weak.

 

[cliffordcooley]

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that most consumers are reasonably well informed about the products and services they buy - they aren't.

And that is a poor excuse that can be easily corrected. At least a company can be blamed for lack of PR.

 

[Guest]

It costs money to play games on the PSN, meaning you're paying for a service. You get the service in exchange for money, the service was unusable for several days. Crediting for the days people were unable to use the service is the least they can do in this situation. They should've done an automatic 30 day extension, it was Christmas, thousands of new useless PS4's... It may not have been Sony's fault, but they offer a product and have to stand behind it.