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  • Tokyo, Japan
    Saturday Mar 4, 2000

    PlayStation 2

    Tokyo, Japan
    Saturday Mar 4, 2000

    Launched in the year 2000, Sony's second home console, the PlayStation 2, had rudimentary online features in select games via its online network. It required a network adaptor, which was available as an add-on for original models and integrated into the hardware on slimline models. However, Sony provided no unified service for the system, so support for network features was specific to each game and third-party server, and there was no interoperability of cross-game presence.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Mar, 2006

    PlayStation Network Platform

    Tokyo, Japan
    Mar, 2006

    In March 2006, Sony officially introduced its unified online service, tentatively named "PlayStation Network Platform". A list of supporting features was announced at the Tokyo Game Show later the same year.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Saturday Nov 11, 2006

    PlayStation 3

    Tokyo, Japan
    Saturday Nov 11, 2006

    The PlayStation 3, Sony expressed their intent to build upon the functionality of its predecessor by creating a new interconnected service that keeps users constantly in touch with a "PlayStation World" network.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Jun, 2010

    PlayStation Plus

    Tokyo, Japan
    Jun, 2010

    Sony launched an optional premium subscription service on top of the free PSN service in June 2010. Known as PlayStation Plus, the system provides access to exclusive content, complimentary games, regular store discounts, and early access to forthcoming games.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Wednesday Apr 20, 2011

    Temporary suspension of operation

    Tokyo, Japan
    Wednesday Apr 20, 2011

    Following a security intrusion, the PlayStation Network had a temporary suspension of operation which began on April 20, 2011 and affected 77 million registered accounts. Lasting 23 days, this outage was the longest amount of time the PSN had been offline since its inception in 2006.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Jun, 2011

    Welcome Back

    Tokyo, Japan
    Jun, 2011

    In June 2011, Sony launched a "Welcome Back" program following the outage, allowing all PSN subscribers who joined prior to April 20 to download two free PlayStation 3 titles and two free PlayStation Portable games. Users also received 30 free days of PlayStation Plus, while users who were already subscribed before the outage got 60 free days.




  • Tokyo, Japan
    Jul, 2012

    Gaikai

    Tokyo, Japan
    Jul, 2012

    In July 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced that they had acquired video game streaming service Gaikai for $380 million.


  • Tokyo, Japan
    Jan, 2014

    Consumer Electronics Show

    Tokyo, Japan
    Jan, 2014

    The acquisition was later strengthened when Sony acquired the assets of Gaikai's market rival OnLive. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2014, Sony announced that Gaikai's technology would be used to power PlayStation Now; a new cloud-based gaming service that allows people to play PlayStation games on a variety of devices. During 2014, Sony rolled out the service in North America on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in beta form as a means for users to test performance and pricing structures.


  • Tokyo, Japan
    Thursday Dec 25, 2014

    Denial-of-service attack

    Tokyo, Japan
    Thursday Dec 25, 2014

    On December 25, 2014, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live suffered network disruption after a denial-of-service attack.


  • Tokyo, japan
    Thursday Jan 1, 2015

    5-day extension to PlayStation Plus memberships

    Tokyo, japan
    Thursday Jan 1, 2015

    On January 1, 2015, Sony announced that users would be compensated for the downtime with a 5-day extension to PlayStation Plus memberships.


  • Tokyo, Japan
    2015

    Premier entertainment service

    Tokyo, Japan
    2015

    Formerly the gaming provision of the much broader Sony Entertainment Network, the PlayStation Network became Sony's premier entertainment service in 2015, unifying games, music, television and video. While synonymous with gaming, Sony said the PlayStation Network had evolved to become a "comprehensive digital entertainment brand".


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