China has temporarily taken down Sony’s PlayStation Store in mainland China after alleging security reasons. The online store was taken down early yesterday at 7 am, with no details when the store will be back up again.
An announcement tweet was also posted by the Chinese PlayStation Weibo account, where it said the online store was suspended and taken down for a security upgrade. Daniel Ahmad, who is a gaming industry analyst provided further information on the tweet confirming that the online store was taken down indefinitely without providing any reason to carry out the security upgrades.
The PlayStation Store (PSN) has been temporarily suspended in Mainland China from 7am on May 10. No time or date given for resumption of services.
The official reason given is to carry out security upgrades. But it is unclear what this means exactly. pic.twitter.com/ZoU71zR9tX
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) May 10, 2020
The PlayStation Store (PSN) has been temporarily suspended in Mainland China from 7am on May 10 the only reasoning I’m posting this, and I kid you not, is because an Xbox fanboy claimed on Weibo that they reported to authorities about certain back door elements that are easily accessible to switch to overseas services.
Ahmad also adds that the Chinese PlayStation Store only contains approved games for any customer in mainland China to purchase from it. This means that it is unlikely that the excuse to take down the store is to check for games that threaten the country’s government policies.
[The security upgrades] might be a thinly-veiled excuse to “search for games that [threaten] China’s policies. The China store only has officially approved games. If anything it’s to investigate possible back doors for overseas PSN services.
There are no more details on when the online PlayStation store is going to return, or what the reasoning is for the security upgrade. Expecting any detailed information from the Chinese PlayStation Store would be futile considering its controversial censoring policies over the years.
Back in 2018, Ubisoft was forced to launch a censored version of their Rainbow Six: Siege title that they were intending to bring to the Asian markets, particularly in China. This meant that the game would bring in many changes not only for the Asian markets but worldwide for everyone. This was followed by a massive backlash from the community, resulting in Ubisoft backtracking on the decision completely.
What do you think of the PlayStation Store in China having been taken down indefinitely? Post your comments below.
