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PlayStation Network struggles to stay up following EU PS4 launch

Update: Sony has temporarily disabled the option to redeem vouchers through PlayStation Network in a bid to ensure a smoother service.

By Martin Gaston on November 29, 2013 at 11:27AM PST

786 Comments

Update: Sony has temporarily disabled the option to redeem vouchers through PlayStation Network in a bid to ensure a smoother service.

"To minimise the inconvenience we have suspended the 'redeem voucher' functionality whilst we investigate further. Unfortunately this means that money cards, product vouchers, PlayStation Plus vouchers, PS3-PS4 upgrade vouchers and any other vouchers for digital content are not redeemable at this stage," said Sony. "Other PSN features such as log-in, online multi-player gaming, PlayStation Plus trial, PS Store (excluding voucher redemption), trophies, messages, friends etc. are all available."

Original story: PlayStation Network in Europe has collapsed under the weight of users attempting to connect their new PlayStation 4 consoles to the service, following the launch of the machine in the region today.

The service is struggling to cope with the traffic generated by the amount of people returning home from a day at work/school armed with the new console. The same thing happened when the machine launched in the US earlier this month.

"We are aware some users are experiencing issues logging into PSN on PS4 due to the heavy traffic we are receiving, we're investigating," said Sony on the PlayStation Europe Twitter account.

"Thanks for your patience."

Sony attempted to lessen the potential outages yesterday by disabling the What's New and Content Information screens on PlayStation Network in Europe, but Twitter and the Sony forums are currently awash with tales of people unable to connect.

One of the main things people will be looking for is the initial update for the PlayStation 4, which enables many of the machine's services and features. Anyone looking to manually install the machine's day one update can do from Sony's site, provided they have some USB storage handy.

The 1.51 update weighs in at 308mb, so any stick made in the 21st century should suffice.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Gopstop2222

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Gopstop2222

everyone who says ps+ sucks u cealry dont know a tiny shit i mean it cost 39,99 for YEAR and every month you get free games i mean my last year i got so many free games what was worth all together about 300-400$ and its like that always...if you dont buy ps+ you gonna lose lot

Upvote • 10 years ago

lepond

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lepond

Let's wait until some hacker breaks into the crapy PSN security and get your parent's credit card info again, PS kids.

Upvote • 10 years ago

MatthewSnyder86

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MatthewSnyder86

Anybody who says PS Plus sucks has a few bolts loose, you get free games, discounts, game trials, early access to betas, all for a very descent price, and these are not 5 year old games either ( Micro$oft).

Upvote • 10 years ago

Csdabest89

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Csdabest89

<< LINK REMOVED >> lol denial

Upvote • 10 years ago

_Roo_

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_Roo_

@MatthewSnyder86 Having to pay a yearly fee for the ability to play online does suck no matter what kind of pretty bow they put on the package.

Upvote • 10 years ago

salimk

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salimk

<< LINK REMOVED >> just to make it appealing to users. They are always behind xbox live in terms of quality and that's a fact.

I owned both systems by the way.

Upvote • 10 years ago

SpicaAntares

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SpicaAntares

Don't plug them, put them under the Christmas tree, UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE!

Parents....

2 • 10 years ago

jayjay444

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jayjay444

LMAO! this is why I only play single player games on the PS PSN is a joke,

Upvote • 10 years ago

Zerofrust

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Zerofrust

PS4 is fastest-selling console in UK history.....

i can't wait for Eddy to post that article on the main page...

Dis Gon B Gud

<< LINK REMOVED >>

Upvote • 10 years ago

Zerofrust

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Zerofrust

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>

<< LINK REMOVED >>

Upvote • 10 years ago

ConorHat

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ConorHat

They expected me to pay for this? If PSN was still free I wouldn't say anything, but charging money and for such a shoddy service deserves ridicule.

Upvote • 10 years ago

SpicaAntares

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SpicaAntares

<< LINK REMOVED >>

There is something worse than charging money for a service that is down a little time, it's charging money for a console that breaks down on you with RRoDs. 30% to 53% consoles of the first generation of 360 died that way, depending on which studies you looked at. And then someone complain that a little internet service is down for a short period? My God it's a joke!

Upvote • 10 years ago

Csdabest89

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Csdabest89

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Xbox replaced it. Soooooooooooooooo all is good. You cant replace time not played for paying for a monthly service. Your not getting that time back

Upvote • 10 years ago

FkzAz

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FkzAz

<< LINK REMOVED >> you don't even have a PS so what are you talking about? go play kinect.

5 • 10 years ago

DMCx

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DMCx

<< LINK REMOVED >> PSN working fine

Upvote • 10 years ago

Csdabest89

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Csdabest89

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> So I guess you know more about PSN then the people who operate it lol. They stated their is an issue yet fanboys in denial still saying things are working fine. How many Internet issues have yall had and it hasnt even been a month Wait till you low servers start getting hacked

Upvote • 10 years ago

DMCx

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DMCx

anyway sony PS4 will dominate all over the world its a fact and online service will improve

Upvote • 10 years ago

_Roo_

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_Roo_

<< LINK REMOVED >> It's also a FACT that Sony is not offering any compensation to the people who payed for an online experience they are not delivering yet. If this is PSN's version of a BETA period while they are getting the kinks worked out they should not be charging anyone for the service.

Upvote • 10 years ago

salimk

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salimk

<< LINK REMOVED >> its a fact people FACT don't you get it?

Upvote • 10 years ago

dashboardman

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dashboardman

<< LINK REMOVED >>

How do you know it will improve in the future…and what about now?

Which future are you referring to…the distant future? What will happen when all regions get a Ps4???

If it struggled now it will struggle again…the distant future does NOT justify the fact that you have to pay right now for this broken shit of console and network…

2 • 10 years ago

grognard66

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grognard66

<< LINK REMOVED >> I don't think you understand the definition of "fact". You can only speculate about the future, a "fact" is only something which has already occurred so it can be proven demonstratively.

3 • 10 years ago

Tigerbite2

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Tigerbite2

I'm just glad I didn't buy the PS3 bundle over the holidays for online gaming. Just stay up long enough for me to grab some of those free games and I'll be a happy man. ^_^

Upvote • 10 years ago

b74kd3th

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b74kd3th

This is my take, xlive has been a paid service for 10 years, billions of dollars were invested into its infrastructure. Psn while free for 5 years was both a benefit and a negative. While it made strides as a free service you could tell the money wasn't there to make it a premium service. So now that's it's paid it will grow for the better but, early adopters are paying to beta test.

6 • 10 years ago

Xx_DemonSoul_xX

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Xx_DemonSoul_xX

<< LINK REMOVED >> That sums it up rather well. And you did it without being a fanboy. I'm sooo proud... :)

Upvote • 10 years ago

b74kd3th

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b74kd3th

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I've never been a fanboy, I pick on them

Upvote • 10 years ago

deactivated-5a1d4b615a3a3

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deactivated-5a1d4b615a3a3

<< LINK REMOVED >> While that is true for the most part, Sony have backed themselves into a corner as the majority of the PS+ fee will be going to either offset the loss on the consoles or to pay for the games they are giving away. Very little of that PS+ fee will be available to spend on the online infrastructure. Unlike MS, Sony do not have an arm of the business that has recently spent $10 billion setting up an enterprise level cloud infrastructure that they can piggy back on.

Upvote • 10 years ago

b74kd3th

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b74kd3th

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> they better cause psn is a joke

Upvote • 10 years ago

analgrin

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analgrin

Teething problems were always gonna happen. To be fair I only had trouble for a couple of hours Friday evening (Day of release) by 9pm PSN was working fine and has been ever since.

Upvote • 10 years ago

LucienBry

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LucienBry

This is why you go for an X1, Xbox live is far superior to PSN, everyone knows this.

3 • 10 years ago

EmperorSupreme

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@lucienbry

Live was down for a week just a few Christmas's ago, do you remember that?

Upvote • 10 years ago

Csdabest89

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Csdabest89

<< LINK REMOVED >> I never had an issue with live. The only time i wasnt able to get on was due to an actual internet shut down and I have been a owner for of 360 since 08

Upvote • 10 years ago

Xx_DemonSoul_xX

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Xx_DemonSoul_xX

<< LINK REMOVED >> Yes... superior.. so have you downloaded Gears of War 1 yet. I hear it is the latest rage... -_-

Upvote • 10 years ago

DMCx

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DMCx

<< LINK REMOVED >> its superior only to you

Upvote • 10 years ago

123crip123

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123crip123

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> No, it's superior to everyone. It's a known fact XBLive > PSN, Find 1 outage lasting 28 days on XBLive. Nuff said.

Upvote • 10 years ago

Csdabest89

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Csdabest89

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Xbox is also offring free games. Both indie games and big hits. Get your fact straight. We get one every 15 days

Upvote • 10 years ago

123crip123

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123crip123

@smokeless_0225 @123crip123 Xbox 360 XBL Gold was giving out free games too before X1 came out, sorry gaystation fan your wrong by saying Sony is a far superior gaming company, a quick google search: "Microsoft Stock vs Sony Stock" and in the real word you can see which company is more superior.

I win

you lose, stick with Sony it's working wonders for you.

Upvote • 10 years ago

b74kd3th

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b74kd3th

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> free games doesn't fix a crappy service

Upvote • 10 years ago

smokeless_0225

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smokeless_0225

<< LINK REMOVED >>

Except PSN is offering free games (no Xbot, not just indie games) and is backed by a far superior gaming company. XBL is backed by M$....nuff said

Upvote • 10 years ago

barleybosh

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barleybosh

Bunch of fucking idiots up @ Sony!

Upvote • 10 years ago

barleybosh

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barleybosh

Or, bunch of idiots fucking up @ Sony!

Upvote • 10 years ago

aXeem316

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aXeem316

man im just glad it does not make GRYNDING sounds - i mean a few hours of offline play at launch is much much MUCH better than considerable amount of hardware failures at launch *cough* *cough* xBONE *cough* *cough*.

3 • 10 years ago

jayjay444

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jayjay444

<< LINK REMOVED >> Better than the it not working at all.... cough cough Blue light of doom? hahaha not only is PS4s broken down but they still can't get a decent service Playstation and PSN is a joke.

Upvote • 10 years ago