When the PSN went offline due to the hackers breeching the system, now simply referred to as the “hack attack”, everyone knew it was going to eventually lead to a huge hit to Sony’s bank account.
Particularly as we found out the PlayStation Network was to stay offline until late May, and it seemed like it was never going to come back online.
Combine that with all of the research Sony had to do to rebuilt the system and the freebies they had to give out for the PSN Welcome Back program, and you’re talking about quite the large loss for the company. How much of a loss? over $171 million dollars!
Additionally, Sony has announced that they are expecting a massive net loss of $3.1 billion (¥260 billion or £1.9 billion)! Ouch.
And while the hack attack did a signifcant amount of the damage, you can’t forget that the Earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, as well as the nuclear fallout, also had a large and negative impact on the company. All of this has combined to really pull the entire company down in more ways than one.
Hopefully all of this has reverberated throughout all companies with online network features like the PlayStation Network, and will serve as a hard lesson on the importance of planning for the worst. Unfortunately for Sony, they had to learn the hardway.
Here is the Kazuo Hirai PSN Relaunch apology video and details on the relaunch.
Via VG247