And breathe again. By penning this article we’re all too aware that we’re foreshadowing the kind of outage that would rival 2011’s widely publicised hack attack, but at the time of writing we can say with confidence that the PlayStation Network is fine. For websites such as this – the kind that break traffic records when the Japanese giant’s servers crumble like Cheshire cheese – we’d be lying if we said that the sturdiness of Sony’s online architecture has thrilled us to the core, but as gamers, like the rest of you, we were hoping that we’d actually be able to play Destiny this week.
Fortunately, play the Activision published giga shooter is exactly what we’ve done, as the PlayStation maker’s backend has proved sturdier than a Jenga tower with all of its bricks still very much in place. There were nervous glances around Push Square HQ when the reptilian band of Internet bandits Lizard Squad brought the PSN to its knees a few weeks ago. “What if this happens during the launch of Bungie’s next big thing?” we asked each other with exaggerated anxiety, sensing the almost inevitable undoing of the firm’s impressive marketing efforts – and the page views that our article on the matter would subsequently receive.
And we weren’t alone. A quick look at all of gaming’s biggest message boards painted a similar picture, with many concerned that Sony’s server farm would be ablaze by the early hours of 9th September, and a smouldering pile of debris some time later in the day. In reality, the exact opposite has occurred, with the manufacturer’s premium network being so sturdy during release week that we almost didn’t think to jot down this post in the first place. And that’s despite the first-person shooter itself setting sales records on fire, making a ridiculous $500 million within its first few hours on sale, with the lion’s share of those figures almost certainly stemming from the PlayStation 4.
The PSN has proved sturdier than a Jenga tower with all of its bricks still very much in place
Bungie deserves credit, too, of course, as recent high-profile releases like Grand Theft Auto Online and Diablo III have proven that smooth launches are almost impossible to do. During our several hours with Destiny so far, though, we’re yet to experience a single hiccup, and while we’re sure that there’s someone out there that’s cursed a never-ending line of animal identified error messages, the wider response so far suggests that these are likely to be isolated incidents, and little more. We suppose that the stability from the developer’s end isn’t especially surprising considering its extensive beta tests, but that highlights why more studios should actually challenge their network infrastructure prior to release.
And while we appreciate that slapping both Sony and Bungie on the back for allowing us to play a product that we’ve paid for is a little bit like thanking a taxi driver for successfully dropping you off at your desired destination, we reckon that this does need saying. We’re all too eager to jump on the negatives when something bad happens, so why not show a bit of public support when things go well? The weekend will prove another test for the PSN as player numbers inevitably ramp up again, so the Japanese giant’s not out of the woods by any stretch. Right now, though, it’s at least nice to know that its online architecture isn’t in fact tied together with old rope and straggly string.
Are you quietly impressed with the PSN’s performance this week, or did you expect it to be fine all along? Should we even be praising the stability of a paid service, or do positive stories like this deserve acknowledging from time to time? Log in without a hitch in the comments section below.
Did you expect the PSN to go down at some point this week? (43 votes)
- Yes, I never thought it would survive the Destiny launch
- Hmm, I didn’t really think about it
- No, I knew Sony would sort things out for such a big game
Please login to vote in this poll.
Comments 21
I honestly thought PSN was going to crash hard due to Destiny. But it didn't, so I am surprised...
But I wonder why it held together this time? Minecraft caused PSN an error a few weeks back. Mysterious.
My buddies and i all were joking at the midnight launch about how we left our ps4s on and connected while at the launch, and that none of us expected to actually play destiny together until a day or 2 after. Some of us just went to bed, a friend and i did stay up and do the install/a few missions together. Minus a disconect from destinys server (but not psn) on my end the 2nd time we went to the tower it was flawless. Very impressed.
Some tech, somewhere in a dark basement probably yelled "IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVEEEEEEEEE!!" in awe before the magnificient sturdy psn servers!
I guess the beta with a recorded peak of 850 k online players at the same time did help Bungie be prepared. Something GTA 5 and Diablo 3 didn't do I suppose?
very much agree with this. It was undoubtedly a big test for the PSN and a lot of people were probably working their asses off to make it a smooth launch. They can have a well deserved beer tonight
They just turned a nozzle for more juice. right? Also, can bungie put in a shuttle bus at the Tower please...
@Punished_Boss I actually thought that the game had bombed and no one was playing because it was still standing... Colour me surprised.
you say it surrvived but I haven't been able to sync my trophies since it was released (won't go past 10%)
Even Blizzard had trouble with Diablo 3 reaper of souls launch with experience of running WOW with 12 million users. Sony went way above the bar with Destiny launch.
As someone who was very...vocal about the recent and frequent PSN-outages and maintenance-breaks, I must give credit where credit is due. Sony and the PSN-servers indeed handled the Destiny launch superb and barely with a glitch. Consider me impressed.
People forget the FIFA 15 demo came out the same day, and the half of my friends is who didn't download Destiny, were downloading that, so hats off indeed.
I've had VERY minor issues within a few hours of the launch, and I mean minor: a message had to be retried (sending messages was a bit slower than usual in general) and my party got killed once... Other than that, no issues, and I I've been on Destiny for approximately 5 hours per night.
@FullbringIchigo Is that on PS3? That's a very common issue if so, and I'm not sure why it happens.
Well hands up!! I really thought it was going to break! So to Sony.... I'm really SORRY!!!!
Where's the faith lol. 61% saying they thought psn would crash oh dear. Don't hold Sony in high regard lol
i bought destiny on ps store so it was pre installed on my hard drive..i watched the last couple of minutes of the timer(on ps4 home screening) and was online literally a second after midnight.. no issues then and none since.. been so smooth
I was surprised myself. Good job Sony.
@get2sammyb yeah it is on PS3 but I didn't realise it was a commen issue
Only two disconnects so far and I was able to get right back into the game at the most recent checkpoint so yeah, I've criticized Sony in the past regarding PSN but so far so good. Next big test will be Christmas day.
@Punished_Boss you and me both.
Bungie did loads of testing with the beta so that may be a reason.
Still, every dog has its day.
@Bad-MuthaAdebis Yeah, running from one side to the other just to realise you are 1 mote short is annoying.
I second this shuttle idea, Ill give bungie a call later!
every game i wanted to play on my ps4 yesterday asked me to go to the store to authenticate that i bought the game! this online DRM bs is so annoying, they should start treating us as customers and not pirates! i didn't have any of these problems with my ps3.
@FullbringIchigo yeah I have this problem often, all I do is leave it for 10mins. If that doesn't work then I put a bit of bread in the disk drive.
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