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Report: PlayStation Store back online next week

Though the ability to play games and watch downloaded movies returned last weekend, a leaked letter from Sony to developers says the ability to buy new games and movies will start again on May 24.

Erica Ogg Former Staff writer, CNET News
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur.
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Erica Ogg
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The PlayStation Store might be accessible again as soon as Tuesday, according to a report published today.

Gaming blog Gamasutra says a memo sent from Sony to its game maker partners says May 24 is the date the online store for buying video games and video content will return, unless some problem arises in the meantime.

The letter, from PSN content manager Jack Osorno, reportedly included details of a new game-publishing schedule that would allow Sony to catch up on game releases that were bypassed while the network was offline for more than three weeks.

Sony previously had said only that it aimed to relaunch the store by May 31.

In a comment to gaming site Giant Bomb, Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold said, "We've not announced a specific date other than to say we expect to have the service fully restored by the end of the month. Anything other than that is purely speculative."

The return of the PlayStation Store will complete the relaunch of Sony's gaming network following a cyberattack last month. After more than 77 million PSN customers' personal data was compromised, Sony took the network, along with its Qriocity and Sony Online services, offline while it investigated and rebuilt its network security.

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• PSN breach exposes records of millions (roundup)

The ability to sign in, change passwords, play games, and watch previously downloaded content returned on Saturday. Yesterday another vulnerability in Sony's security system was found that allowed anyone to change PSN users' passwords if they knew a user's e-mail address and date of birth, both part of the information stolen in the attack last month. Sony closed the loophole and took its PlayStation.com and Qriocity.com Web sites down for repair yesterday, though the game network remains accessible via the PlayStation 3 console and PlayStation Portable handheld device.