PlayStation meltdown as gamers worldwide are denied access - as Sony vows to fix 'as soon as possible'

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 18:29, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 18:52, 24 July 2026 Thousands of gamers are reporting issues accessing the PlayStation Network, as Sony confirmed all its services are down. Schoolchildren hoping to kick off the summer holidays playing popular games such as Astro Bot and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 were among those left frustrated after the gaming giant announced the disruption on Friday afternoon. Tracking website Downdetector first started showing reported issues in the early afternoon, with thousands stating they were unable to connect to the network.  PlayStation, which is operated by Sony, confirmed users are likely to experience problems trying to sign in and manage their accounts, stream games and use the online store. The network's website said it was working to resolve issues 'as soon as possible', but did not give an estimate as to when services may be up and running again, or suggest why the outage may have occurred. Thousands of gamers are reporting issues accessing the PlayStation Network, as Sony confirmed all its services are down Affected platforms include PS Vita, PS3, PS4 and PS5.  On social media platform X, players complained of not being able to log in, load games or shut down their consoles. Some vented their disappointment at the network being done, with some pointing out their concern over Sony's plans to no longer release PlayStation games on discs from January 2028. One wrote: 'Can't play digital games till you fix it. Yet I can put my disc in and play. The all digital future looks great.' Another said: 'Well I was about to stream after a long day at work but PlayStation decided I had other plans.' It comes after a pro-Iran hacking group claimed responsibility for an alleged cyber-attack against Microsoft 365 on Thursday, according to Site Intelligence Group, which tracks and analyses extremist movements. The group – 313 Team – said it targeted the 'main servers' of Microsoft 365 and caused outages on services such as SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive. In a statement shared on its Telegram channel after the alleged attack, 313 Team said it continues to target western systems that are 'actively used to serve the enemy', adding it has the right to avenge the death of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The former supreme leader of Iran was killed in a US-backed Israeli air strike in February. PlayStation suffered an outage earlier this year in February that left thousands unable to connect to the network for more than 24 hours. The Daily Mail has approached PlayStation for comment.