Sony has just announced that the PlayStation Network and the Qriocity services will be back online this week, as the Japanese company is finally ready to deploy its upgraded and more secure systems.
As almost all of you know, the PlayStation Network has been offline for the almost two weeks, following a hacker attack which managed to compromise the personal information of the 70+ million PSN users.
After the attack, Sony decided to take down the online service, in order to see just what damage was done and try to implement better security measures so that the situation won't repeat itself.
Now, after a pretty long downtime, the PSN will be put back online this week, according to the Japanese company.
Sony revealed through a statement that this week would see the beginning of the "phased rollout" program, through which it would be getting portions of the PlayStation Network back online.
The first stage will see the PSN get back online gameplay functionality, for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable devices, as well as access to the Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity service, account management and password reset, PlayStation Home, Friends List and chat functionality.
The Japanese company also unveiled that it had set up a special security division, which would oversee the implementation of new safety measures in the PlayStation Network, so that users wouldn't go through things like extended outages or seeing their personal information leaked onto the web.
As a token of appreciation for the PSN users who have patiently waited for the service to be back online, Sony has revealed that both the PlayStation Network and the Qriocity services will see special "Welcome Back" programs, that will offer special deals to users, depending on their home territory.
"All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service," Sony said in its statement, while "current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service."
Existing subscribers to the Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity service will also be getting 30 days of free service.
"Additional “Welcome Back” entertainment and service offerings will be rolled out over the coming weeks as the company returns the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services to the quality standard users have grown to enjoy and strive to exceed those exceptions."
While the PSN will be relaunched this week, Sony declined to say just when the service is actually back online.
