Every now and then, Sony's PlayStation Network suffers from a DDoS attack, the servers go out, or players report download speeds are slower than they should be in comparison to their internet speed. This time around it is actually the studio itself limiting European's PSN download speeds to aid internet service providers in the amount of pressure put on them in the recent period.
Most countries in Europe are under lockdown, or strongly urging their population to stay indoors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This understandably put everyone on their phones, laptops, and gaming consoles. Sony officially revealed in their latest blog post they are purposefully slowing down download speeds for European PlayStation Network users. They are not the only ones, as YouTube and Netflix took similar actions recently, with the latter limiting all the content available to European citizens to standard resolution only. They believe this will reduce the total traffic on internet service providers by around 25%. You can read Sony's official statement below:
Playing videogames enables players all over the world to connect with friends and family and enjoy much needed entertainment during these uncertain times. Sony Interactive Entertainment is working with internet service providers in Europe to manage download traffic to help preserve access for the entire internet community.
We believe it is important to do our part to address internet stability concerns as an unprecedented number of people are practicing social distancing and are becoming more reliant on internet access.
Players may experience somewhat slower or delayed game downloads but will still enjoy robust gameplay. We appreciate the support and understanding from our community, and their doing their part, as we take these measures in an effort to preserve access for everyone
As of the time of writing, none of these actions affect North American users, but only time will tell whether a similar action is required in these times of uncertainty.
Were you affected by Sony's download speed limitation outside of Europe? How are you spending your plethora of free time now that almost the entire world is under quarantine? Let us know the games you are playing and the backlog you managed to finish so far in the comments section below.
