The 23 day long PlayStation Network downtime from April to May 2011 was, without a doubt, the biggest fiasco in PlayStation history. However, even though it was only until recently that the network was restored in every region, the PSN downtime is now entirely behind us but that won’t stop analysts from weighing in on the aftermath of the situation.
The Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst group, or EEDAR for short, have given their input on the security breach and downtime of the PlayStation Network. According to Jesse Divnich of EEDAR, who is already known for predicting the success of the PlayStation Vita, made his case by comparing Sony’s actions to resolve the matter with actual financial organizations that have experienced similar threats. According to the analyst:
We have all received notices in the past from either our bank, credit cards or retailers regarding potential breaches of our personal data. Aside from a letter with their ‘sincerest’ apologies and warnings about self-monitoring our accounts, what has any company ever given us for the breach of our personal information? In some cases they will provide a free monitoring of our credit for a year, but other than that, I’ve yet to see anything different. Maybe two years down you’ll get some class action lawsuit settlement letter, but the majority of us will never exercise those options since the compensation is minimal compared to the paperwork involved to collect it.
Divnich goes on to assess the damage report on the PR side of the outage and, just like his prediction in the past that Sony would see a successful post trauma report, he believes that the Japanese corporation went “above and beyond” any company to date in regards to appreciation, specifically pointing out the PSN ‘Welcome Back’ package.
In Sony’s case, they gave away games with no hoops to jump through. What could be more appreciative to a gamer? I’ve yet to ever see a company be as authentic and sincere as Sony, they truly went above and beyond.
The EEDAR analyst, however, was still not convinced that the PlayStation Network has caught up to the same speed that they were at before the network downtime, but commented that “Sony is well down the road of recovery” and that their image has “recovered rapidly”.
Now, in your personal opinion, do you agree with the analyst or do you have a dissenting opinion? Tell us in the comments section below.
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