Sony says full PSN service to return to Australia by weeks end

Sony's Playstation Network begins to come back online (Credit: PseudoGil/Flickr)

Sony has this afternoon announced that their Playstation Network — the subject of much scrutiny over the past month or so after hackers broke into the service and stole million’s of users personal information — will be back up and running completely by the end of this week.

Sony's Playstation Network begins to come back online (Credit: PseudoGil/Flickr)

While the network has been operating for a couple of weeks in Australia, after the attacks occurred near the end of April, some functionality, such as the PlayStation Store, has remained offline as the gaming giant scrambled to add extra protection for users.

In a statement released this afternoon, the company says that they’re now satisfied with the precautionary measures added to the service, and that they’ll be switching on all aspects of the network in Australia over the next few days.

“We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love,” Kazuo Hirai, Executive Deputy President, Sony Corporation said in the statement.

“We appreciate the patience and support shown during this time.”

Sony says that the functionality returning to Australia includes the PlayStation Store, which has been offline since the attacks occured, support once more for in-game commerce, the ability to redeem vouchers and codes, full functionality on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP, VAIO and other PCs and full functionality on Media Go.

Unfortunately for those in Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea, Sony is unable to turn on services at this time, with investigations still continuing and preventing the company from being able to re-launch their offerings.