While the PlayStation Network may be free, it also suffers from regular, extensive maintenance, meaning that you will be unable to access the PlayStation Store, or play online, for an extended period. Sony have now announced the first scheduled maintenance of 2012, so start downloading games and demos you’ve had your eye on right now.
The “routine scheduled maintenance” starts on Thursday, January 19th at approximately 8am PST and lasts until 9pm. During the downtime, you won’t be able to access:
- The PlayStation Store on PS3, PSP, and Media Go.
- PlayStation Network Account Management.
- PlayStation Network Account Registration.
- PlayStation Home
- Music Unlimited & Video Unlimited services
- The PlayStation Network from us.playstation.com
If you are already signed into your account before maintenance starts, you “should” be able to stay signed in and play online, but won’t be able to access the services listed above. If you try to sign in after, you won’t be able to, and so can’t play online.
So far, the maintenance has only been confirmed for the US, so other regions might be unaffected.
