Update 3 – PlayStation Network is back online.
Update 2 – Okay, Sony appears to be changing its mind by the hour. It seems like they simply don’t know when the PSN will be online. They have now removed the time stamps from the official site, having originally said that the network will be down until January 7, then changing it until 9am on January 5. They have now removed any estimates as to when the network will be back online, simply replacing any firm date with "PlayStation Network is currently experiencing connectivity issues."
Update 1 – Sony has updated its official help page and stated that the PSN should only be offline until 9am GMT on January 5.
Original Story
The PlayStation Network and some of its services ran into issues earlier today with many users unable to access online games.
The official Ask PlayStation Twitter account has provided two updates, acknowledging that the PlayStation Network is experiencing problems, and stating that engineers are working to get it fixed as soon as possible.
However, the latest update comes from the official PlayStation site, where a banner has appeared suggesting that the PSN could be down until January 7, 2016, which would see the network offline for three days.
Currently, there has been no explanation as to why the PSN is offline, and no scheduled maintenance was planned. What’s strange about the whole affair is that depending on which link you click to get to the official PlayStation site determines which banner you see. Head for the main UK page, for example, and you’ll see the message that the PSN is currently unavailable today. Head for the help section, however, and you’ll see the banner that show that the PSN could be offline until January 7, 2016.
PSU has reached out to Sony for clarification. We believe that the January 7th date is a placeholder, and the PSN will be up and running before that date.
Stay tuned.