PSN dev: Downtime ‘has cost us thousands’

The ongoing global shutdown of the PlayStation Network has left a UK studio with “absolutely no revenues” for a week.

The head of the studio, who wishes to remain anonymous, predicts further woes when the network comes back online.

“What we’re concerned about is how many people are going to come back after the PlayStation Network comes back online,” the person said.

“There may be a lot of people who won’t want to spend their money through PlayStation Network now. We’re expecting a 5-10 per cent drop in business.”

The leading British studio wants Sony to cut its royalties for a short period to make up for the lost money.

Speaking of wider sentiment within the games development scene, the insider said “people will be a bit more wary about using their credit card on PSN, so obviously we’re nervous about sales”.

Sony has shut down the PlayStation Network for seven consecutive days after a “malicious” attack on the online system.

Credit card details, user information and passwords have been compromised. The issue may affect every single PSN user, Sony said. More information can be found here. [An FAQ can be found here]

Develop’s source expects the network to be down for another week, meaning that studios which rely solely on digital downloads will suffer.

“For the last week we’ve lost a lot of money from the PlayStation Network being down,” the developer said.

“This will likely be a two-week period where we literally have no money coming in. Zero revenues over a two-week period is definitely an issue for us. We’ve lost [£] thousands.

“Hopefully Sony will try to ensure this never happens again. We’re certainly hoping we’ll get something back from Sony. Perhaps they’ll cut their royalties a little bit for a short period, to make up for the losses.”