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  • Sony Offers Discounts to PlayStation Network Users
Technology Articles > Entertainment > Gaming Consoles > Sony Offers Discounts to PlayStation Network Users

Lizard Squad, the hackers that took down Sony’s PlayStation network this past December, prevented new PlayStation owners from registering and connecting new PlayStation console, and disrupted network services for many days. In order to make up for that lost time, Sony is now offering some discounts to PlayStation network users.

PlayStation Plus User Discounts

Any PlayStation Plus members that had an active membership or were trying to access a new trial on December 25th is now eligible for a five day membership extension.

Regular PlayStation Network Users

In addition to offering PlayStation Plus members an extension, Sony will also be offering all users a ten percent discount on total cart purchases later this month. The discount code will be good for a one time discount, and will apply to all in-cart purchases at the time that the code is to be used.

Not so Happy Fans

Most PlayStation users were less than thrilled at Sony’s decided solution to the hacker problem. Many argue that deeper discounts can be found online when buying Sony products, and that a five day extension isn’t really any kind of huge prize. Others found the offer to be fair, since Sony also lost a great deal of revenue during the days that the system network was down.

Could Sony have done more to appease upset PlayStation network users? It seems like a bigger discount, something that surpasses ten percent, might have been a better move, and giving Plus members a five day extension simply prolongs the membership - but five days isn’t a huge deal either. In this writer’s opinion, Sony could have given members bigger discounts and dealt with the overall situation better. Then again, the company couldn’t exactly avoid the hack, and giving out something is better than nothing.

Hackers Arrested

Members of the Lizard Squad are being rounded up, but the ones that have been arrested so far have also been released on bail with minor cyber-crime sentences. The group has also launched a free and public DDoS tool that allows anyone to perform the same kind of hack - something that Sony does not need to happen again.

Sony’s PlayStation network was down for four days starting on December 24th, which happens to be the time when many people around the world received PlayStations for the holiday season. Currently, there are millions of PlayStation network users.

If you add up the millions of users that Sony current has on the PlayStation network, and then add up the things like that ten percent discount and five day membership extension, it does all round out to a decent size loss for Sony - then again, people will likely purchase more from Sony now that the ten percent discount is in place, so the company may just even out.

As it stands, Sony’s PlayStation network is back online, and the company is working to set up tighter security measures in order to prevent similar hacks from happening in the future. While some people might not be happy with what Sony offered, the company is trying to appease PlayStation network users at all costs.