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Still no window for SOE games to return

MMOGs remain dark as publisher "will only restore operations when we believe that the network is secure"; DC Universe make good detailed.

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While PlayStation Network users have some idea when the service will return, Sony Online Entertainment is giving its customers no such heads-up on when DC Universe Online, Free Realms, and the rest of its catalog will go live again. The online-focused publisher released a FAQ this morning with a handful of the most common inquiries it's hearing from customers, starting with, "When will SOE's services be back online?"

Expect to see a lot of these running around DC Universe Online.
Expect to see a lot of these running around DC Universe Online.

"We have been working around the clock to restore operations as quickly as possible, and we expect to have some of our games and services up and running soon," the company said. "However, we want to be very clear that we will only restore operations when we believe that the network is secure."

One thing SOE is telling customers is whether their personal data was stolen as part of the attack on the service. The company is now sending out e-mails to the e-mail addresses it has on file for affected users. (SOE notes that the legit notification e-mails will be sent by a third party and will have either "soe.innovyx.net" or "soe.sony.com" in the sender field.)

As for why SOE originally said it had no reason to believe its security had been compromised, the company said the hackers "used sophisticated means" not just to steal the data, but to cover up evidence that the attack had happened in the first place. Sony released a detailed account this morning of how hackers used similar techniques to infiltrate the PSN.

Whenever SOE services do go back up, the publisher will have "make good" programs in place to apologize to its customers. Those will vary by game, but the company has already detailed the plan for DC Universe Online. All affected players will get 30 days of subscription credit, plus extra days equal to the length of the current outage. Additionally, they will get a "Batman-inspired" mask for their characters to wear in-game, though SOE has yet to specify when and how that bonus will be doled out.

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