New console owners unable to log on to PlayStation Network

While PSN seems to be up and running, new users are facing account validation issues that are preventing them from accessing online services.

Presumably this is because of a Christmas logjam of new users for PlayStation, but surely this added network stress is something Sony can plan for.

Steam users reported unusual behaviour in the Steam Store including their main currency and language switching or that they were logged into someone else’s account – often a symptom of a deliberate attack on the network.

Last year, thousands of users could not use their new games when the hacking group “Lizard Squad” took down both the PlayStation and Xbox networks over Christmas.

In the build up to Christmas, Phantom Squad, a hacker group, claimed they would target PSN and XBox Live, Microsoft’s rival service, with distributed denial-of-service attacks, known as DDoS attacks.

Sony notes that the “gaming and social” aspects of PlayStation 4 are having problems.

At the same time, others said they had successfully managed to access the service and were experiencing no issues.

XBox Live is reportedly functioning as normal.

Network problems faced by Playstation Network users left many wondering if cyber hackers had carried out their Christmas Day cyber attack threat.