Sony has begun to restore the Playstation Network (PSN) in select territories as first reported by the company’s own Playstation Blog.
The first PSN feature coming back online is online multiplayer functionality. Additional features will slowly be phased in as Sony rigorously tests the network to ensure its stability and security strength with new protective measures in place.
North and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East are seeing the restoration already. Within the United States, Sony has published a map that shows which States can now get back on the network (green), and which ones are still seeing the servers populate (bright green).
When accessing PSN and Qriocity for the first time since the restoration, Sony will immediately prompt you to reset your password. Once the reset is done, you will gain access to online play on Playstation 3 and PSP, access to Playstation’s video rental service, access to music via Qriocity, access to third party platforms including Hulu Plus, Netflix, MLB.tv and Vudu, and access to your ‘Friends’ and associated features.
To help secure PSN and Qriocity moving forward, Sony has beefed up the number and strength of their firewalls, updated their servers, and added an early warning detection system should an attack breach Sony’s security in the future.
Sony expects the phased restoration to be completed in all territories, including Japan, by the end of May.
